Damselflies

I was too lazy to dig around looking for id on this one. It fluttered around the bee balm, hung out on the pond for a bit then disappeared.

Isopod

I took down my temporary pond today and found all sorts of odd critters. Here's an isopod. The ones I normally see are grey on grey not bright colors. I also rescued a damselfly larvae and put in in the semi-permanent pond. I've been seeing Ebony Jewelwings in my yard every day this week. I want to make sure if they decide to lay eggs in my pond (unlikely as they like moving water), that it isn't in the temporary one.

Peony ‘Karl Rosenfeld’ - Open

Almost every bud opened this morning. Bowl of Beauty opened over the weekend.

Reflecting Bridge

George Washington Bridge NY.

False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) From Seed - Part 2

Yesterday, I teased apart the false sunflower seedlings and potted each in its own container. I'll be moving them up as time and need allows. This is very similar to what I did with lupine last year and I have many flowering lupines this year.

Bearded Iris

So far three different colors of bearded iris have bloomed. This one being a strange purplish red. The bud looked almost black.

Mantis

They're just so cute...all hundred of them.

Peony 'Karl Rosenfeld'

I've been waiting since 2009 for this plant to finally bloom. This is what I get for being too cheap and buying plants in bags once they go on clearance. I paid $2.50 for a plant that was no where near blooming size. Blooming size plants can be had for $12.00, so I really am cheap. A peony (bowl of beauty) I got the same way a year later is also putting up a bud, one. The karl rosenfeld has a dozen or so, maybe opening next week sometime?

Lupine

I think this is The Governor, but I'm not sure. It's about 5 years old, and I have a few more growing out.

Iris setosa var. arctica

I have an iris problem. I like them too much and have a tendency to bite when I see new ones.

Damselfly

First one of the season... And the camera is definitely staying, I rolled over 200 while shooting one bug. I do wish my hands were steadier and there hadn't been a breeze while trying to photograph this one. No idea if this is from my pond, the leftover pond water I'm storing or some local river.

Crested Iris Propagation - Part 2

This is a continuation of a post from last year Original Propagation Post Here.

So last year I snipped some fans from my crested iris and tried growing them in pots. They did quite well. Both clumps bloomed this year and they were both large enough to put in the ground. They required remarkably little care though I tried to keep them out of the strongest sun and well watered. They came up with new fans this year and spread rapidly. I'll be trying it again this year.

Siberian Iris

For years I've aspired to siberian irises like a clump I saw for several years at Elm Bank. However, I wasn't impressed with the options at various stores, that and I'm broke. Back in 09 I bought some roots off eBay, they did okay for their first year but nothing impressive. The next year they got a little bigger, but I panicked about how slow they were coming up and bought more roots in a bag from a big box store. Now I have several pots of slowly growing iris. They'd get about a foot tall then just laze about. I planted them out in the yard around 2010 i think and I got maybe 3 flowers. This year I should get triple that. To most it won't seem like much, but they're finally waist high and look happy.

Mayfly

Well, I think the cameras here to stay. Out of only a few shots I got a respectable one of a may fly, without employing my standard technique (as many photos as possible until the subject leaves.) I'd been a little concerned about macro shots with the camera, it's a tad heavier then my old one and I feel a bit off balance. The downside of testing a camera in May is the lack of very large insects to annoy.

False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) From Seed

Since I'm being too lazy about posting what I'm doing (ie yard is 80% or so done. I have very little left to move, and just need to sift the compost and mix it in the garden beds) here's a bit about a success.

Last year I collected seeds from my false sunflower plant. There weren't any where near as many as one would expect, but I dutifully tossed the bits that weren't seeds and put the suspected seeds in a sealed container (canning jar) in the fridge once they were dryish.

At the end of April I took the seeds out, left them waiting for a few days to warm up and planted some in a pot. I planned on separating out individual plants before they got too large, once they had a few true leaves. I kept them damp inside for a while (over a week), then I got impatient and put them and a bee balm seeded pot outside and just kept watering them. I planted April 28th and May 16th found seed leaves. So 2 1/2 weeks at temps ranging from 50 F to 80 F (we're having a weird spring.)

The bee balm also just started coming up. So my best advice is be patient. Time to go plant some more seeds from last year.

Rolo

One of my cousin's dogs was accommodating over the weekend. Even with the slight blow out on the bottom I'm very happy with this picture. The dog was black, and the background wasn't that well lit, but my new camera handled it. The direct sun wasn't helping that much.

Early Clematis

Yeah, I've been missing a bit. It has been raining and I've been anxiously awaiting my new camera. I caved and ordered a T3i. So far I'm liking it quite a lot, mostly the new tilt-able and flip-able back screen. The fact that the sun was nice enough to return the day it was delivered was also a plus. I'm giving myself to photo number 199 to make sure I love the camera, but it looks good so far. The only drawback I've found is they swapped out the one piece battery charger with one that requires a cord, adding yet another thing I have to haul around. Grr..

Year's in the Making

I don't remember exactly when I picked the root of this plant up. It has been at least three years now. I started with a $.99 tiny bag of root sections and coconut soil. The first year I got one leaf section. Subsequent years more leaves. Finally this Spring a Jack in the pulpit flower. I've been keeping it in a succession of pots as I don't have any ideal habitat in the yard for a spring ephemeral. Once a year I lose the tag and have to remember to hang on to the pot until late April. This was the one plant in the yard not tricked by the unseasonably warm weather a few weeks ago.

I Need More Light

Pretend you saw this yesterday. I just re-potted all the tomatoes, and space under the lights is getting cramped. of course it's wet and cold outside so I can't put any of them out yet. The eggplant I re-potted some time ago, and they're enormous.