Flower for the Day Iris IV 5-16-18

Its Iris Week again. More bloom every day.

An Iris Blessing

May your blooms be floriferous and in good form,
Distinctive, with good substance, flare, and airborne,
With standards and falls that endure, never torn.
May you display many buds and blooms sublime,
In graceful proportion on strong stalks each day,
Gently floating above the fans and the fray.
May you too reach toward the moon and stars,
Bloom after bloom, many seasons in the sun,
Enjoying your life, health, and each loved one,
Until your 'living days are artfully done.

- Georgia Gudykunst

Flower for the Day Peony 5-15-18

How about a "Peony" break from the iris. This is my favorite peony and we had them when I was growing up. 

The depth of cold of the red is unmatched.

Today

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.
Billy Collins

Flower for the Day Iris III Real Time Blooming

These all bloomed last evening to greet me this morning.

 The images speak for themselves.

Flower for the Day Iris II 5-10-18

Every day now new iris are blooming.

This is why they are called bearded iris.

Iris, Most Beautiful Flower

Iris, most beautiful flower,
Symbol of life, love, and light;
Found by the brook, and the meadow,
Or lofty, on arable height.
You come in such glorious colors,
In hues, the rainbow surpass;
The chart of color portrays you,
In petal, or veins, of your class.
You bloom with the first in Winter,
With the last, in the Fall, you still show;
You steal the full beauty of Springtime,
With your fragrance and sharp color glow.
Your form and beauty of flower,
An artist's desire of full worth;
So Iris, we love you and crown you,
MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER ON EARTH!

Edith Buckner Edwards
AIS bulletin January 1961

Flower for the Day Gnome Garden

With iris and daisies exploding it is easy to see why the gnomes wanted to come out to their garden.

Flower for the Day Wall Flower 5-9-18

The Wall flower is usually one of my earliest flowers. It is a dependable perennial and has now spread to several non contiguous areas. My birds are very handy seed spreaders.

Wallflower

Each day she pokes through the soil
wearing moss coloured clothes
and twigs in her hair,
then the wailing starts;
she doesn't want to be grown.

Claire Bircher December 2010

Flower for the Day Spanish Hyacinth 5-8-18

These little blue hyacinths greet you as you come to our front door. The flowers are exquisite if slightly messy 

but last only a few days. The foliage lasts for about 6 weeks.

Flower for the Day Azalea 5-7-18

Our azaleas were a gift from Don Ingram over forty years ago. He told me how to care for them

and they still create a spectacle.

These are called Karen.

Genitallia on an Azalia 

Remember taking a cruise to Australia; 

And I did  forget to bring my genetalia; 

Gently put down;  Without a sound; 

Were found lying on a flowering azalea. 

Jim Horn 

Are you laughing? A smile would be helpful.  

Copyright © James Horn | Year Posted 2018                 

Flower for the Day First Iris 6-5-18

As expected we have our first iris today. It is a double blooming cultivar. It will bloom again in the early fall. 

Iris 

 by William Carlos Williams 

a burst of iris so that  come down for  breakfast 

we searched through the   rooms for  that 

sweetest odor and at   first could not   find its 

source then a blue as  of the sea  struck 

startling us from among  those trumpeting  petals    

Flower for the Day Late Spring Finally Produces 5-4-18

About a week ago there were almost no blooms. Now we are into our May explosion, finally.

In the mean time the gnomes demanded to come outside and who could deny them. Here are a few gnomes behind the phlox beds. The phlox have been battered by the recent rains. In the field is a swing (back left)which is available for those who feel the urge.

The tulips have run their course. This is a parrot tulip.

and a tulip on its way out with color that has some depth.

We will have iris in 1-2 weeks - I see buds coming out now.