Saturday, March 13, 2010

Picture Contest- Week 16- March 14, 2010

What a difference a week makes. This is in contrast with the sameness that we had for most of the winter.
Last week the snow was starting to disappear and there were snowdrops, almost with the stage to themselves.
This week the snow is gone. This bloomed on Thursday.

I find something new almost every day. The first crocus bloomed on Thursday, during what they call in Seattle a “sun break.” This was a little window of sunshine that lasted an hour or so. Other than a few of those breaks this week, it has been cloudy, above freezing, with bits of rain here and there. The crocus has not bloomed since. It and friends are just waiting for that bright light to come back on. When it does watch out. Crocus season will start in earnest.
Edit- Since I wrote that the sun came out and we have been having a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.
Crocuses are coming out all over.

There are also plenty of opportunities to use muscles that haven't been used in months. Wet leaves are heavy. Isn't that an insight?

Plants that have emerged from freshly thawed ground include- columbine, hellebores, poppies, iris, epimedium, primroses, bleeding hearts, lupine, anemones, as well as all the usual bulbs. I think I even saw some little bloodroot.

I have an entire special post below this one, with pictures.
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But let me get on to the contest.
In last week’s voting the blue Siberian Iris was the winner, giving us 3 of the final 4 contestants.
The full voting was as follows:

Siberian Iris 26
Monsella tulip 17
Night embers, the daylily 14
Poppy Center 12
Total voting 69


In this week’s contest here are the contestants.

First there is the sentimental pansy. This picture was taken November 23. Pansies are supposed to over winter here in the north. This winter the snow covered them about the first of December and they emerged in the last few weeks almost intact. Look at the pansy shelf pictures in the special post this week.

Second is the white Oriental poppy. The sprinkling of dew gave an added dimension to this wonderful picture.

Third is the morning glory. I put these striped flowers into the garden last summer. I have more seed so they can have a return engagement. Supposedly some are pink, with stripes.

Finally here is a daylily close-up. I think this is one of the all time best close-up pictures. Maybe I will have an extra contest in a month just for close-ups. The pink to yellow with a hint of green is something I particularly like. You can certainly tell that the sun is shining.

There you have it. Vote away.


I close and tell you three things.
Katie is going back to Haiti today. She will be there 3 weeks. Here is the link to the fundraiser.
Mears Garden Fundraiser


You are always invited to come by the garden, here in Iowa City. It really is starting to be worth a look. There are flowers today with the following colors- white, yellow, gold (a very different color from yellow), pink and purple. Please understand that we do not have to be here if you want to stop by. Just wander around.

I would like to close with this picture taken at one of those magical moments in the garden. I was outside over the noon hour one day this week. I was wandering around just looking at things.
I heard some Canadian geese honking, as they do when they are flying by. We have them all year around as there are rivers that stay ice free, at least in places. They usually fly around during the winter, flying up maybe 100 feet in the air. Well I looked around and did not see them. I heard more honking and looked some more. Finally I lifted my eyes to several levels higher. There were 300-500 geese way up in the sky. These geese were clearly not on any local flyway. They were going north because it was that time of year.


While we do not yet have daffodils, spring has come to central Iowa. We should all enjoy this magical time.
Philip

1 comment:

Catherine Woods said...

Yes, geese flying north do signal seasonal change! Hurrah.