picture contest- Week 4- December 2

Welcome to the Fourth Week of the Second Annual Mears Garden Picture Contest for 2007. I hope you are getting the idea of what we are going to do this winter. As we enter the fourth week the month of November is done. We are well into this contest. That means we are making measurable progress in getting through the winter. Here in Iowa all of a sudden the days of it being 40 degrees are done. There is no longer any real question as to which coat you will wear when you go outside. You wear the winter coat. The ground is on its way to being completely frozen. The weather forecasters are getting excited about big storms.
On Wednesday I finished planting what came to about 8 dozen daffodils purchased the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The only thing that will be planted from now on, will be things in pots. It is after all, only about a month before it will be time to start some seeds. It really should be time to check out those seed catalogues and see what fantasies can be inspired.

But on the to the contest.
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For those of you that missed the information about the Contest please either read the Week 1 entry on the blog, or the information repeated at the end of this post. Voting lasts through Saturday.


Each week in this post I do three things.
First I tell you about the vote totals from last week.
Second I tell you about this week’s pictures.
Finally I give you the bonus section, which is sometimes like the footnotes.
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So here is the third week's vote totals

1- Michigan lily 12+2=14 16.9%
2 pink waterlily 35+11=46 55.4%
3 caladium 14+5=19 22.9%
4 frittilaria 4 4.8%
Total 65+18=83 100%
The first number is the electronic vote. The second is the writein (email) vote

The big winner is the Pink Waterlily. Waterlilies are mighty competitors. It was a waterlily that won the contest last year. I was a little surprised that the Caladium did not put up more of a fight. This was also the second pink flower to advance, demonstrating something.
We had a great turnout this past week. I particularly like it when I hear from someone new. Everyone should feel free to share this with your coworkers, your neighbors, or your friends. (sometimes those categories overlap)
The 3 winners so far are the waterlily, the peony from week 2, and the poppy from week 1.


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This week’s pictures

We have had enough pinks and oranges over the last few weeks. This week there are some real vibrant colors.


1- It’s Blue. It ‘s a Siberian Iris called Keoka. I love iris. They come in so many types, colors and sizes. There are the first little ones in the early spring. Then come the bearded iris, from dwarf to tall. There are the Dutch Iris, Siberian iris, and Louisiana iris. To cap off the season, there are Japanese iris. There can be iris of some sort blooming from March to July. Some like it hot. Some like it cold. Some like it dry. Some would even grow in the pond.














2. It’s red. It’s a candelabra. This is the center of a daylily, whose name escapes me. How embarrassing. But back to the picture. You can just get lost in this picture. You can follow the stems of the stamen down into the very heart of the flower. You can see the pollen. There are the lines on the petals descending into the depths.












3. It’s purple. It’s crocuses. It’s spring. I do not think there is any flower that says springtime like the crocus. Slowly, over a period of years, spring flowers spread. A single crocus becomes a clump. This is what you want to happen, when,in the fall, you put out the squirrel food called crocus bulbs.














4. It’s even more red. I told you there would be vibrant colors this week. This is an Iceland poppy. It is a repeat bloomer, which makes it different from the Oriental poppy. The same plant will bloom over and over again until the heat of the summer kills the plant, at least in my garden. Sometimes they will make it through the summer and have a shot of coming back the next year. Mostly they are annuals in my garden that bloom for about a month starting the middle of May. I grow them from seed inside, starting in the new year. They can then be put outside in April. One mistake I have made is to put them out very early when they will be about the only green thing around. While crocuses can feed the squirrels, early planted poppies can feed the rabbits. But oh what a wonderful flower. There is that seed head center surrounded by all those individual strands of gold.











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What about bonus pictures this week?
Why don’t I just show you other pictures of iris. The first is a Siberian Iris given to me 10 years ago. A garden plant you have received from a friend is a precious gift. Every time you see it, well, often when you see it, you think of the person. A garden becomes a collection of friends.











The second picture is a picture of my first Louisiana Iris. Take my word for it. This type of iris is up and coming. They are not just for the south anymore. If you have a sunny wet part of your yard, get some of these. Then get some more. You will only be pleased with the result.













The third picture is one of the few tall bearded iris I have. It is so different from the Siberians and Louisiana Iris.











To close this week's presentation, the pumpkins continue. They are out in the elements. They get frosty. Then sometimes they get to play. Here is the first attempt at a video. Technology roles along. The audio is just the sounds of the front yard. I am open to suggestions for a dubbed song to go along with it.















Here is the repeat information about the contest:
Each Sunday evening for 12 weeks I will post 4 pictures from the garden for 2007. You get to vote for the one you like best. Those 12 winners and the 4 highest finishing second place pictures will advance to a round of 16. Over the next 4 weeks you will pick the four finalists. There will then be that one last vote for the fan favorite for garden year 2007. By that time winter will be mostly done, at least in Iowa. (in theory)

Happy December everyone.
Philip