This and That: A Blog

I bought two tomato plants around the corner. Or, two corners, like if I were to walk halfway around the block.  A woman had grown them from Baker Creek seeds and was selling them for $2 each.  I got my favorite, the reliable Sungold and a Pantano Romanesco , which they say has flesh " rich, flavorful, and juicy ." I also have a volunteer Sungold from last year's plant.  I had a larger one a while back, but a late freeze got it.  Nice shadow!  No one really needs more than one Sungold , but I didn't know this was going to show up. My June-bearing strawberries are a little earlier than last year, but only by a few weeks.  They taste nothing like the kind you buy in stores! There's a little Chinese elm that came up in a pocket of a terra-cotta pot.  It's a few years old now.  I just let it be. Purple tansy is blooming in the compost pile.  I tossed the old plants in there years ago and get volunteers each spring.   I like how the f...

  Skywatch Friday Hope you don't mind another puddle reflection shot!  I am partial to them.  Have a nice weekend.  My weather is getting a bit warm.  Today is forecast to be 81° and tomorrow 88! I'd like to say it will cool off after that, but I see it might be 90° on Tuesday.  My peas have just started to flower, they won't like this...

 For the month of May Thursday Postcard Hunt 's theme is Parks and Gardens.  This week it's National Parks. Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas Alligator Farm  c1948 Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier  c1930-1935 Yosemite National Park, California Four Great Waterfalls: Yosemite, Bridal Veil, Vernal, and Nevada (Bridalveil is the old spelling on the back) late 1930s - mid 1940s  Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming The skyline of of the Teton Range viewed from the east, with labeled peaks and landmarks.  A very inconvenient sized postcard for storage!  Next week will be Public Gardens.

  There'll be more iris in the upcoming weeks, but for now here's what blooming.   Autumn Tryst , division from a friend. Unknown, free off Craigslist. Unknown, free off a curb. Mango Passion , division from a friend. October Skies , division from a friend. Another curb freebie, or as I called a free one in a poem , a " nameless mutt ."  This, a yellow, and a pretty white I hope appears, are tall and need some support or they tip over.   Nothing to do with iris, but look at these roses at a McDonald's drive-through lane!  I got a large iced sugar-free vanilla coffee.  Not the best, but with the app only 99¢.  That beats anywhere else!  I don't need sugar-free, but it doesn't hurt.  I get four pumps of the syrup instead of of standard six. 

 Some Goodwill Bins "Treasures." As I've mentioned before, I "save" original art and donate it to St. Vincent de Paul, where they keep things forever (or so it seems!).  I saved this original colored pencil drawing by Helen R. Haynes.  It bears two labels on the back, the first from the Colored Pencil Society of America's (CPSA) 11th International Exhibition in 2003, where it's catalog name was South American Beauty .  The other is from a later sales listing, reading  South American Cactus, $200.00.  It's matted and framed, 24" x 24".  I wasn't going to keep it, but it grew on me and I had a bare spot on my bedroom wall (I actually parted with something else).  So, what did I pay?  44¢!  In a frame, so breakables price.  That's the reason I don't mind buying artwork just to donate.  (The colors are brighter than this makes it seem.) Two metal... they seem to me to be cookie cutters, handmade.  They make a nice edition to m...

 Now that the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge has ended, it's time for some reflections and the Reflections Post.  These questions come for the co-hosts, my responses, my reflections, are in blue.  Although I participated with two blogs I am only posting my reflections here.  Our team theme this year was: A is for Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals. Do you feel like our team's posts from this month met your expectations for that theme? Yes , I do. How do you feel about the Theme Reveal? (Especially if this is  not  your first year doing the Challenge.) I like that there is a Theme Reveal. It’s like a preliminary thing before the main event!  In what ways does the reflection post help you? Writing one helps me look back over the month and see what went right, and what I could have done better. Or, at least, i f not better, differently.  It also gives me a chance to address ongoing proble...

 The Herb Garden area is as colorful as the front yard. Almost, yesterday the yellow Moonshine yarrow in the front yard made an appearance.  Blue Flax (oops, this particular plant isn't in the Herb Garden, but there is Blue Flax there) Blue-Eyed Grass (not a grass, it's in the iris family) A California poppy, sea thrift and Persian catmint combo. Firewitch Dianthus  Boy, does this one ever self-seed! Ixia in front of the dianthus.  The corms came from the Dollar Tree a few years ago.  Juniper Thyme I bought from Mountain Valley Growers quite a few years ago.  They have a nice herb selection.  I keep this as an ornamental, cooking with my common thyme.  Persian catmint and sea thrift again, with Hot and Spicy oregano on the right, Golden oregano clumped in the upper right. Not an herb, but growing in a container near a rosemary.  The sole survivor of a snail invasion. Also in the Herb Garden area are the large nursery pots I used last year...