Homer Simpson's thoughts on Flowers

I have never been much of a TV viewer or much of an intellectual (this post will prove that). I was the only person in the world who did not care who shot JR, or possibly the only one who has never seen Oprah or watched a soap, well you get the point. But I do LOVE animations, The Simpsons being one of my favorites along with King of the Hill, Family Guy and American Dad, see I told you I would prove that I am not an intellectual.............. :). I have taken my grandsons to every Pixar film that has been out, my youngest grandson and I watched Nemo about a 100 times......... :).

Anyway a couple of weeks ago The Simpsons was all about Lisa trying to save the bees, Homer's quote about flowers was as follows "Flowers are just the painted whores of the plant world", I think that quote can be applied to these plants. :)

More Poinsettias

A couple more poinsettias.......................

More Poinsettias

The snow did really happen but the roads were slippery for awhile.

Two more poinsettia varieties.

More Poinsettias and More Snow

These are a couple more of the varieties that I photographed this past weekend.

We are predicated to get up to four more inches of snow tonight. I enjoyed the first measurable snow this past weekend it was the beautiful wet kind, the dogs I and enjoyed a nice walk in the woods.

Poinsettias

This past weekend we went to a local greenhouse that grows all their own poinsettias, there are about 6 greenhouses full of various kinds of poinsettias, they string lights throughout, it is a sight to see.

Last Rose of Summer

My roses lasted unusually long this summer, the night before the last hard freeze I picked about 6 or 7 buds, a few opened. This was one of the ones that opened after I picked it.

The Pumpkin Farm

The weekend before Halloween my grandsons and I went to the pumpkin farm along with my friend and her granddaughter. We had a great time, we brought two pumpkins home for craving and roasted the seeds. I think I ate most of the seeds, I love those things!

Coral Bells

I planted a few new coral bells this past spring, this is one of the plants, this photo was taken just a week or two ago. There are so many new varieties out there, I am going to try more next spring. It snowed today! Off and on all day long. I actually am ready for the winter/late fall season.

Old Fashioned Rose Bush

I have lots of old fashioned rose bushes, none of which I know the names of. This particular one was grown from a slip I cut from a rose bush in an old unattended cemetery in Chickasaw County in Iowa. Walking through the cemetery is some what eerie, as the tombstones are all overgrown with brush and weeds, most date back to the civil war time and are made of limestone, there isn't a road to it and I guess only those that have lived in the area for years know of its existence (both sides of my family live in the area, I have not lived there since I was 5). The leaves turn the most beautiful shade of yellow in the fall as you can see. It is wonderful that I am enjoying a start of a rose bush that pioneers most likely brought with them to the Iowa prairie years ago.

Falling Leaves

It has been a nice weekend! I finished up all of my outside chores, well the big ones anyway. The leaves have been coming down for sure. I had a wonderful relaxing weekend, hope everyone else did as well.

Pretty in Pink

TGIF, the weather sounds great for the weekend, I hope to get some last minute garden clean-up done.

Hydrangea

My Hydrangea bushes were loaded this year, the first picture is with the sun shinning on the flower the second without, not sure which I like the best. I have to get out and pick a bunch of them this weekend, they dry so wonderfully. I have a large basket full of them each fall, my one cat loves to play with dried flower heads.

Late Bloomers

The asters were really pretty this year in my garden, the bugs and bees love them.

Amish Cockscomb

This flower is still in bloom in my garden, I picked it today when I got home from work to let it dry so I can get the seeds. I have several that I dried last summer to make a wreath out of, but that never happened, but they dry great.

Sunday and It Is Snowing!

It is snowing outside as I am writing this! What flowers that I had left in bloom will be gone tomorrow for sure. There were a few things still blooming, my cosmos for one, they did unusually well this year, they reached heights of over 8 or 9 feet, they must thrive on neglect. We had high wind warnings all day today, it was quite a day.

The photo above is of butterfly weed gone to seed.

I had fun with the boys, we went to the pumpkin farm with a friend of mine and her granddaughter.

A Couple of Fall Photos

What a great day I am having, even if the weather is bad! I have the day off, I planted bulbs this AM, walked the dogs and baked cookies, we are waiting to leave for Dubuque to pick up our grandsons for the weekend, Yeah! Just sharing some pictures I took last weekend.

Bottle Tree

I did not get home from work in time to get a picture of my bottle but I did find the picture I took when we first put it up last fall.

Tina http://tinaramsey.blogspot.com/ asked to see a picture after I commented on her blog about a picture of her bottle tree.

I have forgotten how to make her name a link, darn it! I need to brush up on this blogging thing again :).

Tina asked if I knew the story behind the trees, the first one I saw was in the Ray Charles movie, it is a southern thing, evil spirits are supposed to get caught in the bottles and therefore unable to enter the house. Anyway that is my idea.

Lily Collage

Tina asked me to post a picture of my bottle tree. I know I have one but can not find it and it is too dark to take one now so I will take one tomorrow if I get home in time. I have been playing with a new program called Photoscape, I used it to do this collage.

Pretty in Blue

Really blue flowers are unusual in the gardening world but the flower of the herb, borage, is blue and a very pretty blue.

We are supposed to get a hard frost tonight, it seems it gets later and later each year.

Hollyhock

This is a double Hollyhock, isn't it pretty????

Pretty in Pink

TGIF!!!!!!!!! It felt like fall today, cool with occasional drizzles, but tomorrow is supposed to be nice, yeah! This photo was takin in August, my pretty pink hibiscus. This is the second year for these plants. The only complaint I have about them is that they fail to stand up straight.

Fall Crocus

I mentioned earlier this summer that we had to have a new patio put in and one of my flower beds was torn up. I had dug the plants that I could save. Much to my surprise my fall crocus that were planted in this bed bloomed so they survived and received full attention as there is not much else in the bed right now.

Wasp (I Think)

This photo was taken this past summer. I think it is a wasp of some kind.

A Garden Photo a Day

This photo was taken some time in July...................lilies are a favorite of mine.

Speaking of lilies, I planted 8 lily trees today from Breck and some heirloom turkscap lilies as well. It did not feel like fall today, it was over 80 degrees and almost muggy.

The weekend flew by as usual. Lots of hours in the works for me next week same as last week, sure am glad my hubby takes good care of the critters while I am gone.

A Purple Petunia

I have been gardening for a very long time. My Grandmother on my Dad's side was always working in her garden as well as my Dad's sisters, my aunts, so I guess I came by it genetically. But my very first plant purchase was a six pack of very fragrant dark purple petunias that I bought on the spur of the moment after walking past them and noticing their fragrance so each year I still buy the dark purple petunias, since buying this house in the late 70s, I plant them in a long wooden box that sits on top of my fence, at times I can smell them in my kitchen, but always when I leave for work early in the morning I notice their fragrance and in the evening while sitting out on the patio.

Lantanas

I have grown Lantana every year for the past few years, it is supposed to attract butterflies but I have yet to see a butterfly on any of the blooms. But I still enjoy the plants. I wish I had the room to winter them over but I don't.

TGIF! I logged 55 hours this week and I am tired of working.

A Couple of Zinnias

This week has been a beautiful week weather wise! I wish I had been able to take a few days off but that is not in cards, darn it! I hope the weekend is this nice.

Any readers out there? I am reading a wonderful book, Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, it is a first novel. I love big thick books when the are good and this one is good. There is so much going on in the world right now I am not getting in as much reading time as usual.

Amish Cockscomb

Last spring someone gave me some starts of Amish Cockscomb, at the time I did not know what it was and neither did she, but someone on my blog identified it last summer. They self sow and I had them in my flower bed again this year. However on Saturday I saw REAL Amish Cockscomb............lol............they were about 5 times the size on the ones I have had the past two summers, the blooms were over a foot across and were in almost every flower bed we passed. At one shop I bought a flower for a dollar, I have it drying now and will harvest the seeds so hopefully next year I will have larger blooms, but maybe it is the horse manure they use for fertilizer.

A Few Blooms Sunday Oct 5, 2008

Well, going to see the Amish stores was a bust, they are buying their merchandise in China the same as all the other stores. But we did visit a store that sold bulk goods, baking goods, and candy mostly that was fun. Bought a few things there. There was a General Store that had lots of Amish fabric, I bought 3 yards. It was a nice day for a drive. I came home and planted bulbs and started cleaning up for the winter.

Goldenrod

I love goldenrod, of course I like anything that attracts bees and buggies :). I can not convince my mother that it is not ragweed and I catch hell from her every time she sees it in bloom in my garden :). My mother is a full blooded Irish woman and there is no changing her mind no matter if there is proof right in front of her, so I have given up.

It is supposed to be a beautiful fall day today so we are off to visit some of the stores in Amish country, neither of us has been up that way for years. We are going to have lunch in Fairbank at a local mom and pop restaurant that we hear is good. When I get home I have about a 100 bulbs to plant and it sounds as if I best get that done today as the weather tomorrow does not sound like bulb planting weather.