Gazing Balls, Cold Weather and Other Things

I love gazing balls, I know they are not really garden art but to me they are :). The past couple of years I have been buying the steel ones so they don't break, this past fall I grouped a few of them together and placed them outside the window by my computer, when December 1st rolled around I put some lights on them so I could see the snow reflecting in the balls along with the lights. I have many more all over my yard, I love the way you can see the sky, flowers, grass in the gazing balls.

Now that the Christmas rush is over I have been cleaning up the hard drive of my computer, I really would like a new computer and in fact even built one on Dell's web site but this one is not really that old and I have several external hard drives for my pictures and music, so there really is no reason to buy one, so I have been moving files from the C drive on this computer to external hard drives for storage, I am up to over half of my C drive free now which was my goal so I can start the new year with a nice clean computer :). I have many other projects to start as well, but at least I can cross one off of my list.

Quasi-Boy does not like the snow at all, his idea of playing in the snow is standing by the back waiting for someone to open the door for him. I am including some pictures of the other critters as well since there is not much in bloom in the garden currently.

With the hoar frost we had last week, it was a wonderful picture taking opportunity but I was at work during most of it, but I did get a few pictures.

Sunday In Iowa

Another nice weekend in the state of Iowa, is that anything like being in the state of grace?????? Is this heaven, no this is Iowa.

The Baltimore Orioles have been at my grape jelly all weekend, almost standing in line, it has been fun listening to their various songs. There have been several males at the jelly at the same time, I have seen a female at the jelly occasionally. The hummingbirds have been at their feeder as well.

We do need rain! I gave everything a good drink today. I purchased a few more herbs, lemon verbena, lamb's ears, and cinnamon basil. I made some new garden stones but they did not turn out, I had the wrong kind of concrete, it had too many stones in it. We went to Menards to get the kind of concrete that is used for patching, it is much finer. So next weekend, I will be making stones. I also bought some charcoal color concrete dye, I have always used the terra cotta tint.

Lavatera, more snow and foot surgery.

Foot surgery has been humbling for sure, I am having to use a walker and not put any weight on my foot at all, it is horrible! I will be glad when this is all over. I can't even get a cup of coffee to my computer table by myself.

Well, now that I am done feeling sorry for myself I will talk about Lavateras since Ruth thought that my last photo was of one, I can see why she thought that. I got my first seeds for Lavateras a long time ago when I belonged to the Flower and Herb seed exchange which is part of the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. They are a wonderful little flower that self-seeds like crazy for me. I just happen to have some pictures I have taken of them, does that surprise anyone??? :)

It sounds as if our cold weather may be coming to an end, why does it matter to me, I can't leave the house anyway??????????? There I go again feeling sorry for myself :), this too shall pass as the saying goes, soon I hope.

Luna Moth in Iowa?? In February?

I have always wanted to see a real live Luna Moth even before reading Prodigal Summer
by Barbara Kingsolver, anyone read that book? It was a really good book, Poisonwood Bible by the same author was probably one of my all time favorite books buuuuuut, back to the Luna Moth, I actually saw one today! It had it's back to me and was kind of hidden but I spotted it! The volunteer at the butterfly house told me it was much more active at night (of course.......LUNA..........after all). But I finally got to see one, this one looked like it had been around the block more than once, it must have one hell of a night life :).

Flying Flowers In Feb In Iowa

More Flying Flowers

Isn't it hard to beleive these pictures were taken today in Iowa?

Carolina Wren Revisited

The Carolina Wren is still at our feeder, I was happy to see it is making it through the cold temps we are having right now. Yesterday I saw a Morning Dove at our feeders, I know some folks in Iowa have them at their feeders all winter long, I think ours take a short vacation south because the leave in the late fall and show up back here late winter.

Violets and other winter pastimes in Iowa

This little african violet sits on my kitchen window sill along with a few others, I like it because it is such a dark purple and has a nice little sparkle to it, brightens up a cloudy, damp, dreary day like we had today. Where oh where is that sun???????????

Dream Weaving

While Iowa was getting its 6 inches of snow this weekend, I was reading through old issues of Birds and Blooms and gazing through seed catalogs-again! In Birds and Blooms they had a picture of a flower grouping of Holly Hocks in the background, Phlox in the middle and one of the shorter goldenrods in the front. It is a grouping I am going to try, it was gorgeous. I am crazy for all 3 of those flowers, in fact I already have all of them in my garden except for the shorter goldenrod, I have some tall goldenrod, but I am sure I can find the shorter variety in one of my catalogs.

Clivia

These are some photos of my Clivia in bloom last spring. There is also a yellow Clivia, when it first was available for sale it was over $200.00 for one plant, it is much cheaper now but still more than I am willing to pay.

Iowa is under another winter weather advisory, same as last Sunday, 4-7 inches of snow is predicted. It gives me hope for a snow day on Monday, but we would need about 13 inches of snow before my boss would consider it a legitimate excuse.

All I Wanna Do is Lay in the Sun

This is Jon Pickles enjoying some sunshine today, he is a large cat but he manages to get in behind plants to soak up the rays. The leaves in the picture belong to a large Clivia plant that I have had for almost 20 years, it blooms every spring, last year it bloomed twice, in the spring and later in the summer. I transplanted it to a larger pot after it bloomed, they do not like to be transplanted but the roots were beginning to show on top of the soil. I hope it blooms this spring.

Reiman Gardens Butterfly House

Visiting Reiman Gardens in the middle of an Iowa winter is a wonderful way to spend the day. The gardens are awesome in the summer without a doubt but visiting the Butterfly House on a day when the temperature is only 0 or so is exhilaring! The Butterfly House is warm and toasty and full of tropical plants and butterflys of course, it is a great place to take pictures as well. There is also a wonderful conservatory that always has a gorgeous display. These pictures were taken in December, I can not wait to visit again soon, the flower display has been changed in the conservatory and I am sure there are new butterflys to see and photograph. If you have the chance to visit Reiman Gardens, do not hesitate it is well worth it. It is located on the grounds of Iowa State University. The money for it was donated by the Reimans, anyone who regulary reads their magazines has probably heard of it, they published (the company is now owned by Reader's Digest) Birds and Blooms, Country, Country Woman, Taste of Home, and other magazines, all of which are great reading.

Lipstick Plant

My houseplants get me through the winter in Iowa, I mentioned in an earlier post how I found a lipstick plant and I had not had one in years, when I was repotting my original purchase one of the small branches broke off, I stuck it in a small pot, it has rewarded me by blooming!

Monday Monday

In case you are wondering who is in the picture, that is Quasi Boy one of my constant gardening companions. He was adopted through Midwest Boxer Rescue. He did not have the greatest life before but is quite happy now. He has a large scar around his neck from someone letting a collar grow into his skin.

Well, we did get some snow but not much, 3 inches is the official total. Not nearly enough to give me a good excuse to stay home from work for a snow day.

I mentioned that I placed an order with Select Seeds this past weekend, I ordered some Martagon lily bulbs, lilies happen to be one of my favorite garden plants. I read an article in a magazine some time back singing the praises for this particular lily also mentioning that it does not mind partial shade and even thrives in the shade. I hesitated to order the bulbs for spring planting because fall planted lilies always do better for me but I could not pass them up.

Sunday Snowy Sunday

On this snowy day in Iowa, I want to share some pictures of things that are in bloom in my little world. The Christmas Cactus is a bit of a late bloomer. The first photo is of a Star Hoya that blooms almost the entire year. I have several other Hoyas that bloom in late winter to spring, their blooms are all wonderfully fragrant but the Star Hoya's blooms have no fragrance.

Sunday Snowy Sunday

As I am sitting here composing this post I am watching the snow fall! A rare occurrence here in Iowa for the last several years. We are under a winter storm watch, I am glad to see some snow, I like the white cleanness of it and am really really tired of cleaning mud off of the dogs paws each time they go outside and come back in. The ground is not frozen yet and it is January! Maybe if I get lucky it will continue to snow and I may get a day off of work, that would be wonderful, doubtful that it will happen but I can dream.

Last night I was doing more catalog browsing, I have jotted down a few shrubs I would like to try as well as a few perennials. One is Dream Catcher beauty bush, Kolkwitzia amabilis it is hardy to zone 4, early pink flowers, golden-yellow foliage in the fall, Black Lace elderberry Sambucus nigra , it is described as having purple-black filigreed foliage that resembles thread leaf Japanese maples, Japanese maples are not quite hardy in this zone so this elderberry interests me. Phlox 'Sherbet Cocktail' also caught my interest, it is a new color described as yellow edges with pink centers. I love Phlox, the scent always takes me back to my Grandmother's garden.

Yesterday I shared some pictures of my begonias that are in bloom, today I would like to share some other pics of plants in bloom in my little world. The above photo is of some paperwhites, they smell wonderful to me, some folks tell me they stink.

Angel Wings

Another Angel Wing

Help Me Make it Through the Winter

One might wonder why someone in Iowa would start a garden blog in mid January, I wonder myself, I guess because I have the time now. I placed my first seed order today. It was with Select Seeds, one of my favorite seed catalogs. The seed catalogs seem to arrive earlier and earlier each year, I start getting some in November now. My annual tradition is to pile the catalogs up until after the holidays. I love browsing through all the beautiful pictures, I often wonder why my flower garden does not look like the ones in the catalog. Some of the catalogs are truly works of art, I always think I should do something crafty with them after I am done looking at all the beautiful flowers, but that has yet to happen. Time is always at a premium around here.

My houseplants help me get through the winter, I purchased several new Angel Wing Begonias last summer, they are all in bloom right now, plus a lipstick plant that I acquired last summer. Anyone remember the 60s and 70s plant craze, lipstick plants were everywhere. I never got out of the craze, I have many houseplants. Anyone buy plants from Logees? Another of my favorite catalogs. It is a bit too cold to mail order house plants right now, but I always make it a point to browse the plant sections at Lowes, Home Depot and Menards. Lowes has a nice selection. I even made a terrarium with one small episcia last weekend. Terrariums were all the rage in the 70s along with macrame, if you are as old as me no doubt you will remember both. I still have my stack of macrame pattern books, I remember standing for hours making plant hangers.