Welcome to Week 10. We survived the big cold here in Iowa City and look forward to warmer and more hopeful times. Here is the abbreviated story of the week’s weather.
First it snowed early in the week. We probably got 7-8 inches over two days. I had to drive all around eastern Iowa on Monday, reminding me why I do not like to drive in bad weather.
The official early morning temperatures were
Tuesday -8
Wednesday -13
Thursday -21
Friday -24
These are actual temperatures, not with wind chill factored in.
On Thursday, during the day, we had a high temperature of -8.
And you should have seen the temperatures in the part of the state where it was really cold.
I looked at the all time cold temperatures for Iowa City. You can find almost anything on the Internet. It was -26 in 1997 on February 3, 1996. That is the coldest listed. So we came close.
On to the picture contest.
Last week you picked the coneflower as the winner.
Here was the full tally.
Coneflower 25+2=27 for 39.7%
Anemone 12+4=16 for 23.5%
Crocus 8+4=12 for 17.6%
Yellow Lily 8+2=10 for 14.7%
Total 56+12=68
The Coneflower advances.
So Let’s look at the contestants for this week.
1- Here we have another composite picture from the front yard, taken on July 13, about at the height of the garden color. There are late Asiatic lilies and daylilies and a sprinkling of coneflowers. There are buds galore and even the alium seed head.
2- This is an Oriental poppy called Royal Wedding, blooming in the front yard on June 7. The center really does look like it contains something wonderful. I have poppies scattered throughout the perennial beds adding color to the early June period, which sometimes is a lull between the riot of spring bulbs and the height of the summer lilies.
3- Then there is this close-up of a caladium, called Red Flash. I love caladium. Caladium add color to the shade beds from July to late September. This picture was taken on August 2. They really will grow in the rather deep shade. At the same time the City has found some varieties that grow in hot sun. There have been planters downtown the last few years that were quite nice. The catalogue just arrived for this years bulbs. I treat them like annuals. They are tropical so do not survive our winters. You could bring them in but that is a lot of trouble. I buy jumbo bulbs in lots of 25 for a little less than $2/piece. I like the taller varieties. When they are backlit by the sun in the morning they can give you pictures like this one.
4- The final picture this week is Twinkles, the Oriental lily. The picture was taken on August 2. I hope by now you have begun to appreciate the color spectrum for these lilies. With this variety I like the speckles all over the plant.
Vote away. I suggest that you take the time to make the pictures big. On the blog that should happen by clicking on the picture.
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As bonus pictures this week I will start with more poppies.
Then there are some more lilium.
I close with more high summer color riot.
I hope you enjoy this historic week.
Philip
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