Don's Blog Faun in the Front Yard in Kirkwood

While I was out of town the mother of this faun dropped it

off while she was foraging. It spent much of the morning 

and early afternoon sleeping and resting all curled up in our 

front yard in a crevice between some creek rocks and a 

large piece of wood we found by the Mississippi River many 

years ago. Jan made friends and took this picture.

 

Mystery Rock Garden Flower

There was great interest in this rock garden flower. Most people felt it was

a sedum or stonecrop. The best fit is Sedum sarmentosum also called 

stringy stonecrop, gold moss, yellow moss, star sedum and graveyard moss.

     "Yellow with stonecrop the 

      moss mounds are yellow."

      George Meredith  1828-1909

 

Flower for the Day Rock Garden at the Lake House 5-28

Two years ago in the fall I put more than a pound of seeds into this rock garden at the Lake House. Last year there were almost no flowers. This year finally there are flowers blooming in abundance.

So far the most frequent bloomer is Coreopsis.

In the rocks there are stands of this small yellow flower.

Can anyone name this little beauty?

Don's Blog April

Changeable April Weather:  from "Two Tramps in Mudtime" by Robert Frost.

   The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

   You know how it is with an April day

   When the sun is out and the wind is still,

   You're one month on in the middle of May.

   But if you so much as dare to speak,

   A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,

   A wind comes off a frozen peak,

   And you're two months back in the middle of March.

Flower for the Day Iris 5-27

The iris are winding down. I am proud of this one as I have been trying to grow orange iris and this one is in its second year.

Flower for the Day Peony 5-26

This is my last peony.

Flower for the Day Peony 5-25

For the peony lovers: These peonies are at the Lake House.

This is an old and special peony bush. 

The blossom goes through several stages as it matures.

And  these are more normal peonies.

The weight of the blossom always takes the branches down,

Flower for the Day Pink Peony 5-21

My pink peony bush in the field has matured nicely.

The blossom fills our cut glass bowl.

Flower for the Day Peony 5-19

This is my favorite peony. This year the blossoms did not show well because of two days of rain. The bush went from multiple gorgeous blossoms to this lone battered survivor. There were some nice petals on the ground.

The color is extraordinary.

Don's Blog Log Cabin Porch Music Concert 5-16

Near our Lake House is an 1840's Log Cabin which has been reconstructed with love. Several times a year there are concerts for our enjoyment. This last week-end there was a concert by The Babbits, a local country and Texas Swing group. There was a tent to ward off our ever present showers. The concert was well received and no one left early. My buddy Dan West, in the green shirt up on the left, has done a fine job of scouting out great talent.

The Babbit's daughter is a professional fiddler from Nashville.

She sang and fiddled with exceptional talent. Also we were amazed by the steel guitar player. 
What fun we have.

Flower for the Day Wildflowers 5-18

These wildflowers all showed up in 2 days last week.

Don's Blog The Lake 5-17

This is how the lake looked today. I was mesmerized.

Flower for the Day Iris 5-14

This is what the iris look like after being pelted with rain for two days. They are delicate and take on a wilted look. Its reality gardening. 

This spectacular iris has been turned upside down by the rain

and its own weight - more than voluptuous.

Flower for the Day Iris 5-13

This is a field circle of iris. I put several iris in this circle years ago. It expands each year.

Flower for the Day Iris 5-12

The iris show continues.

Flower for the Day Hesperis 5-8

The hesperis is filling the back garden rooms. It is also called Dames Rocket.

It has always looked like phlox to me but it isn't.

Flower for the Day Iris 5-5

All these iris showed up in the last two days. They seem to bloom overnight or very early in the morning. The blue and white iris above will bloom again in the fall.

How about a golden yellow beard?

Don's Blog: Art Show 5-3

Jan and I went to the opening of a show: Phyllis Maclaren : Profiles in Courage. Phyllis and Jan are in a small group of women artists. The project was to produce portraits of people who had shown courage despite being punished for their political or religious views. The portraits were all somber, including the artist's self portrait,  reflecting the the seriousness of the issues in their 

lives.

Phyllis Maclaren - Self Portrait with Butterflies

There are several examples from the show below.

The show was very enjoyable and thought provoking.