May Flag Moment

I ordered these lavender irises years ago and backed them up with a clematis…my father in law gave me this glass insulator back in the 80’s. I found it in my wood shed last year and plopped in on top of this trellis. They were made for each other!!?

I was outside watching butterflies, listening to an unidentified bird sing and pulling weeds early this AM.  A beautiful morning was unfolding right before me…and around me, while I waited for the caffeine to kick in. But I was awake enough to grab the camera on my way out the backdoor.

Some of Mrs. Howe’s irises with a mini red rose in the background from Coach Slaton, years ago!

I know you’ve seen irises before.  Heck I’ve seen them lots.  But they always thrill me.  There’s just something, I don’t know….regal about them.  And so many colors! Then there’s the sheer avalanche of reproduction going on with these “Banners of Spring”!  I mean, I started off, years ago, with nothing.  Then BB’s grandmother brought me some tubers she had dug up.  And a co-worker at the high school offered me some of her “continual bloomer” irises.  A lady in town called to say she was dividing a bunch of her “flags”, as the iris is referred to in Texas, and wondered if I might want some.  They know a sucker when they see one.  I just cain’t say no (with memories of “Oklahoma” and Ado Annie now racing through my still caffeine deprived brain) to a good iris. (Is there any other kind?!!)

Not iris but time to share my “Texas” mini rose

I’ve bought a couple of rare varieties but can never remember their names.  Oh, if I dig around a bit, I can find the tag still stuck in the ground somewhere in the vicinity of said iris and I really should do a better job of charting all those different names I guess. 

My parents gave this angel to me one year for my birthday. She’s still looking good and I give her a wreath w/lights at Christmas. But right now, she’s surrounded by somewhat ratty tulips, daylilies, irises, lavender and the peonies in the back are nearly ready to bust open!!

But the lessons I’ve learned from the iris?!  Do NOT plant them out in the wide open windy Kansas landscape.  My first iris bloomed for a day before the wind ripped it apart in about 2 seconds.  Note to self: backyard, wind protection.  Same for tulips and daffodils, altho the dafs lasted longer than the others.  Houston we have a problem.  We aren’t in Texas anymore.  Gardening is a whole other thang up here!!!

All this because I was thinking about “flags”, Texas and an uncle who passed last week.  He lived close to an iris mecca.  In fact, the last time we visited said mecca aka Argyle Acres, we visited him.  Here’s to Uncle Buster, the original Country Boy!

a birdhouse my baby brother gave me a while back sitting on a stump I rescued decades ago. Think I’m gonna have to find another stump soon.

And now….think I’ll just pour another cuppa and head back out.  It’s just too darned nice outside!  I’ll bake cakes this afternoon.  Yes, I am still the Mother of all Procrastinators.