The water doesn't bother me as much as the ice ! Which by the way, has started to move, and break up. Yesterday, when we got home the jam was solid, all across the river, and downstream as far as I could see...now it's all moving, and making a heck of a racket as it bounces and grinds against the pilings of the "old' bridge! Boy ,I can't hardly wait till Thursday, when it's spring ! ...Arlyn

Thank you Debra. I have not seen Sparks Fly before and I must buy one! I have several SDB's that are beginning to show tiny bloom stalks - Killarney Green, Drambuie, Little Chestnut, Ninja Turtles and Making Eyes. It is cool and windy here this morning so it will slow them down a bit. Waiting, maybe not so patiently........

Bonnie, I received it in trade for a chocolate colored Iris I sent to Angie @BookerC1. She also sent me a piece of Puddy Tat, so I feel like I got the better end of the deal.


More Spring...

Snowdrop; Tahiti Daffodil


St. Keverne (part of the OHG raffle win); NOID Dianthus

Those Daffies sure are bright and happy looking !...Arlyn

Oh Bonnie, you have buds already! won't be long. We'll be waiting for pictures!

Yes, and I just checked and I have bloom stalks starting to grow on Sheldon Butt, Tax Time and Enchanted Princess! These last three were planted late last year and I did not think they would bloom this year. It is cool and windy here so still wearing a jacket and hat but cant stay indoors when life is outdoors. These little guys bloom first and it seems so magical that they just came out from under sleet/mud and send up some leaves and the next week a bloom stalk forms. I am sooooo ready for some iris blooms.

Part of SDB ancestry is mountain pumila from central Europe so they are tough.

I was really afraid I lost most of my iris this year, to iris borers. I've never had them before, so I was stunned to clean out the bed in the fall and find rotten rhizomes and disgusting grubs. I'm so pleased to see a few green spears still coming up from the pieces I salvaged. I need to go get some Grub-X or something and be proactive this year! Iris are my favorite, and my heart will break if I lose them all!

My iris look wonderful.......my roses look awful. I'm pruning most of them to under 12 inches. Oh well Sorry for all of you with iris problems.

Yes, those iris borers can be a big problem. I like the Bayer product for grubs best. Seems to do the trick. Good luck.

Bonnie, I'll be just as anxcious to see the pictures as you are to see the bloom I'm sure.

I'm not a good 'picture takerer' but I always take photos for my iris folders so I can see what and how much bloom I had on each one. I will post them here also. I have two little guys that are struggling, 'Bluebeards Ghost' and 'Leopard Print'. They are still there and the rhizome feels firm and looks o.k. but they are not greening up. I may reorder them just to be on the safe side. I love them both. I lost a TB 'Cowboy's Journey'. It was not greening up and I tugged on it and it felt loose so I tugged a little more and it came right out of the soil. The roots look o.k. but they are just there and not doing anything. I planted the TB last August and it rallied in the fall and put leaves on. hmmmm........ I wish they could talk.

Angie, I have never had an iris borer. Since I have been on this site I have become aware of them so for the past week I have been checking everyday. Hopefully I will never see one! Last summer when the song birds got ill and were nonexistent in this region the grasshoppers got so bad they ate everything including iris leaves and rhizomes. Three different kinds at a time would be sitting on a plant that had bites out of it all over, even little scoops out of the rhizomes. I was so mad I started to spray. I usually just dust comet on plants and it deters them but there were too many to fight. I hope we have a normal summer...uh, I forgot, what's normal.....

I hope your Bluebeard's ghost and Leapards Print make it, they are both nice, I have both of them, just got Bluebearud's ghost last year, so hoping to see it bloom this spring. I'm hoping there are lots of new pictures on here when I wake up! I'll need a good boost for the day.

Well, here's 3 more

Raspberry Ribbon


Suky


Darcy's Choice
Arlyn

a few pictures from last spring. here are some purples that took over a compost area.



Noid

Bonnie! The song birds got ill? Please elaborate!!!!!!!!!!

yes. in early spring last year our song birds were dying around our bird baths. This was more than state wide. The powers that be did tests and found that they had a respiratory virus. we were instructed to clean our bird baths and turn them over so that birds would not congregate and pass this virus around among themselves. We passed this information along to all garden clubs so that we could stop this virus if possible. within a month no birds sang. No birds ate bugs either. This spring some birds are back. I hope that whatever was actually killing them in unusual numbers is no longer a threat. Very sad when you live in a wooded area between a lake and a river and for days on end the air is silent except for crows.

Wow, Bonnie, I hadn't ever heard of such a thing. Pretty awful. Yes, let's all hope that it was a one-time occurrence. BTW, do you happen to know what the old-timey looking iris is in the compost pile--the one with the sort of violet standards and lavender falls? And do you have any close-up shots of it by chance?

A few more from last year:



My Happiness                                            My Katie


NOID                                                            Over Alaska


Pretty Pansy                                              Sable Night


Slovak Prince                                            Sultry Mood

Brett Grand Master is my pick of those it looks like it would really stand out in the garden

Bonnie looking forward to your pictures of blooms, I like clump pictures and that one of the Iris in the compost area is beautiful.The trick is just take lots of pictures

Mary Ann I had a nice clump of Bolshoi in the fall and now will be replacing that one right away I like it a lot as well.

Aryln I like Darcy's Choice and that is a good picture of it we had it since Schreiner's introduced it and enjoyed it every year and then the scorch wiped it out completely.

Tom here are some more purples to help you get your fix


Platinum Jubilee & First Avenue


Magic Happens & Venita Faye


Magnificent Masterpiece & Enamored


Living Your Dream & Ballerina Queen


Enjoy The Party & Wicked Good


Visual Intrigue & Blue Rising


Very Special & Team Player


Fancy Stuff & Opening Number


Purple Ritz & Pontificate


Sharp Dressed Man & Ink Patterns