First, for JoJo... my son found a caterpillar and kept it in his basement to cocoon and hatch... this is resulting moth... gorgeous!

The mini rose garden area... with Iris in bloom...

My Mother's Iris, now growing in my garden...

This Iris is called "Beverly Sills", I believe...

More lovely Iris...

This is just a weed, but it's so pretty I left it to bloom!

"Quadra"... what a beautiful rose! The first to bloom so fully, aside from the species types...

"Therese Bugnet" blooming by the mailbox...

The entire fence line is planted with Alba and Rubra roses, alternating pink and white... the scent is powerful!

I'm not sure what Iris type these are, though they were planted as bulbs...

Lonicera, or Honeysuckle, growing on the fence line...

And the yellow flowered version...

The various Clematis are in full swing!

One of my favorite ground covers... Cerastium, or Snow in Summer...

The deep orange of Oriental Poppies...

The lovely pink of a single Peony...

The border containing the poppies and peonies...

This is our son, the Dr. - recently graduated from Drake University in Iowa. We are so very proud of him... I just had to sneak in a picture.

Here he is, accepting his diploma from the University President...

Though the weather was cold and rainy while we were in Iowa, we highly enjoyed the graduation and hooding ceremonies... and we enjoyed getting to visit with family. We're very proud to announce that our son is now a graduated, recognized Doctor of Pharmacy. :-)

Thanks for joining me on another colorful excursion through my gardens... and thank you for indulging my pride at having a real Doctor in the family!

Until next time... Happy Gardening!

Hi Jodi!!!

Congratulations !!!!

I know that you are both so proud of your son!!!

What a great accomplishment...Tell him that we here on the forum are very proud of him too!

Way to go!! Job well done.."Dr..." Sounds really nice!!!

All of your pictures look beautiful..the colors are so vibrant and i bet the frangrance around your house is just wonderful!!!

What a great start to your summer!!

I hope you are doing well and that you continue to have a wonderful summer...

Take care everyone..

Laura in VB

Laura was on the same wavelength as me when she mentioned the fragrance. Mmmmm!

Loved the shot of the Polyphemus moth, too!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I was working hard in the yard & on trees. Take care!

Al

What struck me about the graduation speeches given by the heads of the school were the words offered... I distinctly heard them speak of integrity, compassion, honesty, and how important it is, now more than ever, to help make the changes affecting their chosen professions very positive ones. In other words, it was very human and personal, and I felt even more glad that our son chose Drake, and that Drake chose him.

The scent of roses in the air is quite heady, here... mixed with Iris and Peony, and the scents of several other flower types... it's a joy to walk around the yard!

I imagine you've been mightily busy, Al, what with such a large container collection to tend to annually... and you, too, Laura, with your wonderful Plumie collection!

Thanks for viewing my gardens... I'll try to add more photos as things change.

What a beautiful group of pictures too. Wow the scent must be heavenly! What a beautiful area and I always pray those tornados that devastated Joplin yesterday are never near anyone I know here at these forums and in those lands touched by so many where there is so much prairies and flat land. You seem to be a prime target where you live for some serious storms, the kind I have never seen. That moth is just so amazing! You know how I feel about different pictures of bugs from different areas. I have always wanted to see one hatch from a cocoon myself. Thank you and I can't wait for more. I will never forget those praying mantis you posted once.:-)

Hello to everybody else.

I wish you a great day and thank you again Jodi for yet what turned out to be a wonderful stroll through your gardens and a part of your life.
What a privilege to also have access to your photo album:-)
Who was the pretty blonde in those pictures? Not the one standing next to what may be your other son?:-)

Congratulations!

Mike

What a beautiful Moth! Thank you for thinking of me and posting that! So cool your son kept it to see it hatch! It's almost the same as the one I found. To actually hold one takes your breath away. For as big as they are, you can hardly feel them on your hand. Silk moth I believe is what it is. Sad, they have a very short life, so when you do see them, enjoy their beauty to the fullest! :-) Please tell your son, thank you for sharing. ;-)

All your flowers are amazing too!
My mom loves Iris! And they smell so sweet! At least the purple ones we used to have do.

Im going to have to say , the snow in summer is my favorite. I love the heart shaped petals. ;-)

I hope you and Larry are well rested after your trip!

Thanks for sharing all these beautiful pictures!
JoJo

I'm not pictured in any of the photos, Mike... I'm usually the one behind the camera! I think you must be referring to my daughter-in-law. She's fantastic, and I love her as though she were my own daughter! I'll see if anyone got pictures of our whole family together... I'm sure someone did.

I'm not sure how my son found the caterpillar to cocoon and hatch, but I know he wanted his little ones to see the miracle of nature... so he brought it inside and placed it in an aquarium tank. It really turned out nice!

Very soon, my friends, I begin taking cuttings and rooting them... and soon after, the promised packages will be en route. Have patience... nature takes her own sweet time!

Other than having picked up some sort of flu bug, we're doing fine... and I hope you are all having fun with summer almost here! :-)

I've been remiss in documenting the Spring bloom, but I see many familiar plants in your pics.
I have only a few pics to share. My Columbine have been up for a while, battered by wind/rain.
The dark, shorter Columbine is my favorite......

Josh

It's another rainy day here in Colorado - this monsoon-like weather we have been having this May is beginning to wear on my gardener-nerves! I have so much work to do outside and this weather is so-not cooperating, My Irises are starting to bloom, but I can't enjoy them due to the cold rain. So, I will live vicariously through the pictures of other gardeners!

Very nice columbines, too, Josh. I don't seem to have much luck with them here in my garden so it is great to see the blooms on yours.

Like Mike, my thoughts also go out to those of us who have lived (it is to be hoped) through the devastating tornadoes that have been romping through the USA this spring. We have tornadoes here too, but thus far only rain and thunderstorms. I guess I shouldn't whine about the rain; it could be much, much worse.

Holly

I apologize for not getting back to this and other threads... it's been a crazy, busy May! :-)

Thanks for your kind words, Holly!

I've got a new batch of photos to share, but for the sake of loading time, I think I might give them their own thread... not everyone has high speed internet.

That is Lavender...Spanish Lavender, I think.
It's good stuff. Grows quite well around here.

Just the other day I noticed a mostly white Columbine, too.
I haven't seen that type in my patch before.

Josh

I must say that although you get many days of rain and cool temps, everything you grow is just amazing!

I will bet that Lavender smells amazing. Almost like the smell of the Sweet Wood Drift Josh.

Holly: It's weird that some are getting so much rain and severe weather while others that use to get it are in a drought. That is where we are headed. Towards a drought with no storms or rain for weeks. All we got was a whole lot of drizzle, clouds, and cold grey days but not much actual rain that amounted to much of anything.

Jodi: We all understand what the word BUSY means this time of the year. How else would you be able to keep your yard so pretty as all of us? :-)

Have a great day to all. Now it's off to pluck weeds again. I am sure we will all be spending much more time here once we are all cooped up indoors again:-0( and :-)

Mike:-)

Josh

Well,
I was hoping to put this in a container, but hubby said I couldn't keep it. lol...

I found this guy this morning. He was cold and sleepy. After I took pictures, I set him in the sun to warm up.
The Horned Toad, one of Arizona's many fascinating creatures.

JoJo

Josh

I just love that frog. It almost looks prehistoric!

Now you know you can keep him with out his knowledge..Hummm

You could always make a drainage layer in one of your containers with pebbles and sneak him in there..lol

Use a 'huge' black container, fill it with stones then sand, then a space for him to live and breath and then stick four sticks around the inside of the pot and set a shallow Bonsai pot on them so this leaves a huge gap in the pot for him to live.
Don't forget to cut a hole big enough for him to come and go on the side of that conatiner where he'll reside in to escape that hot sun yet stay warm and moist. Turn the pot so no ones sees the hole and only notices the plant sitting on top..:-)

Mike

Beautiful yet masculine! All I ever see is tree frogs. Little they are..lol

He is a nice big one! Was easy to catch considering he was cold and sleepy. ;-) They bring out the kid in me and I have to try and catch them! LOL! Ive seen them as small as a dime too.

Do you see very many in your area?

If you don't bother them, and there's a food source they will stay around. I have a huge black ant hill in the back yard. He was in the alley, just beyond the fence, so hopefully he's eating the ants.

Mike,
Although toad is part of their name, they aren't in the same family. This guy is more like a lizard. They like it hot and dry! During the day, they will hide under sand with just their head sticking out and wait for bugs to go by, then pounce. Then do it all over again. It's fun to watch.

We had one a few years ago that insisted on hanging out in the drive way! So every morning before Mike left, I had to go out and scoop him up so Mike didn't run over it. I tried to relocate it, but with no luck! We did that all summer! LOL!

JoJo

We caught something yesterday, too... probably around the same size, or a little bigger... but we used a trap because it's a pest. We caught a giant mole! Bigger than I've ever seen before! They're destroying our yard and gardens, digging up everything and tunneling everywhere. All the recent rain has brought them closer to the surface, I think. Anyway, we spoke to our son's father-in-law, who owns a pest control company, and he recommended a certain type of trap. Works like a charm!

Great picture, JoJo! I've never seen one of those critters, except in nature magazines. That's awesome! :-)

Jodi, the moles are a real hassle here, too. They've tunneled under my peppers
lately and destroyed roots!

Josh

If it isn't moles, then it's deer, cold weather, or bugs!

I give you credit for going against odds and doing all you can to grow them Chheers!

Hello Jojo!!All summer? Lol..Your right.

They are so lizard like. It must of been fun to watch it.

I'll bet that frog was very grateful for having you around. You wouldn't even want to see what happens around here near the swamps after a rain storm:-(

Jodi: Again, so beautiful and from what you describe, very fragrant! Just what we love around here. I think most of my flowering anything are all fragrant including my citrus trees.:-)

Thanks everyone:-)

Mike

He and his cohorts are ripping up my lawn and gardens, and actually pushing whole plants right up out of the ground! The poison we were using last year works, but it makes me sick. The trap we got works great, though.

I expect to round up a few more and put at least a partial end to the mole destruction. We also have voles and shrews, I believe, which also tunnel and destroy yards and gardens.

Mike, you wouldn't believe the scent in the air! All you have to do is step outside, and your senses are bombarded with the smell of roses! And when you get up close and smell each one, there are subtle differences... some smell like cloves, some are more fruity, some are very mild, and some are so strong they just blow you away! It's amazing!

I can't wait for you to experience the same thing! It takes a while to establish a nice little rose garden, but if you choose well, and the plants like where you place them, you will love having them! It takes about 3 years before a healthy rose plant will really begin to grow well and come into its own, blooming reliably. But it's well worth the wait, and the effort!

I'm working on putting together a nice little collection for you... don't worry, Mike... I'll get you hooked up! :-)

For anyone following my saga... we just got word that my son will be getting his own store to manage. Needless to say, he's incredibly thrilled... all his hard work is paying off much better than he thought it would!

I am, as we speak, trying to prepare more garden photos to share... so, don't go too far! :-)