Marseilli, France

Here is the first stop on our trip. It was a rainy dreary day and who would think to bring an umbrella an a cruise. The tempature was warm enough that it wasn't too cold when we got soaked to the skin.

Iris flowers

Hello all,
Just to let you all know that we left the country on May 22nd. Right now May 30th we are back in the U.S. but not at home. We are staying in Chicago for a couple of days then we will be back home. Will post some pictures of the trip in the next few days.
Here are some of my Irises that were blooming when we left home.

What is this plant???

If you know what this plant is called let me know. The story behind them is this. Back last September I had ordered flowers to be sent to Scott at work. These two were part of the filler in the arrangement. After the flowers in the arrangement died these two looked good and I were planning a party so I thought I might be able to use them in an arrangement. Well I put them in water but didn't use them. The next thing I noticed they had sprouted roots. The roots were a couple of inches wrong and I potted them up. They didn't grow any just sat there for the winter and then in March they started growing. I figure they are tropical plants of some sort but if anyone could help me out it would be appreciated.

Kauffman Memorial Garden

Recently Scott and I had the opportunity to visit the Kauffman Memorial Garden here in Kansas City. I have been there once before and was impressed by the design and the number of plants that are planted in the garden. I recently read that there are over 7000 plants and 300 different species of plants in the garden. Almost up the the level of my garden. LOL!!
There is also a wonderful fountain with three bronze statues of dancing girls. Here are some of the pictures I took during that trip. One thing you will notice is the trunks of the trees are painted blue. I have searched the Internet and haven't been able to find out anything about that. The only thing I do know is that Scott heard on NPR radio station that the blue trunks and the white blooms were to make a pretty combination. I will let you all be the judge of that.

I have never been to the garden on a winter day or a day when snow has covered the ground. However I am sure it is as beautiful as in the summer. With the number of evergreen plants and hard structure to add visual interest.

And here our Chariot awaits us! LOL!! The day we were there there was a bide and groom having their picture taken in the garden. There was also a family having pictures taken. I think you can see why.

Some of my spring flowers

This time of year is so exciting. It seems like every time I go outside there is something new blooming. Plants I had forgotten about popping up all over the place. Everything is so fresh looking and green. I guess you all of this by looking in your garden.
Here are some of the plants that are blooming now. I don't know all of the names but I will try and give you as much information as I can.

This first one is grape hyacinth. I discovered while searching on the net that in some regins in Greese and Italy the bulbs are pickeled and eaten. Interesting!!

This plant is a creeping phlox. I guess there are two kinds of creeping phlox because the next picture down is what I have thought of as creeping phlox. This one has flower spikes that are about 6 inces tall and the plant sends out shoots during the summer. Where as the phlox in the next picture grows more in a mound and the flowers are just on the top of the folage.

This is one of the daffadils I have blooming right now. Not sure what it is called but I bought it in the last couple of years. There are so many different bulbs to choose from now. It is hard to choose what to buy.
Can't tell you what this one is. But it puts on a show in the early spring. Pretty yellow blooms on a low mound of folage. Maybe 3 inches tall but strickingly beautiful.

This flower is what I would call and old fashion daffadil. The reason I say old fashion is that it is one I remember blooming when I was a kid. At the time I thought it was boring but now that I am older I appricate it's simple beauty.
This is the flower of the blood root plant. I am not sure I knew it had a flower but last year I took some plants from the woods at my mothers. Should be a great plant for in the shade under the trees.

This might not look like a flower but it is. It is the flower of the splurge plant. That is about all I know about the plant. I have had the plant for several years and it does travel but is easy to control. During the summer the folage turns a pleasing purplish green. Goes well with all the other plants and helps fill in the gaps.

Seedling Update

Last summer I had bought some ornamental pepper plants and when they went to seed I figured they would be easy to start indoors this spring. Little did I know that every seed that I planted would sprout. This first picture are the plants from just one of the containers I planted and that is after I had transplanted about twenty seedlings a couple weeks before. Rather than throw them all out I thought that I would plant 3 or 4 in these 6 inch square pots.




These are the ones that didn't make the cut. I felt a little guilty about getting rid of these but there was no way I could keep them all. I already have more than I have room for in the garden.









This next picture I was trying to show the difference in the plant size between the two different pot I used. I was at the store and saw some peat pots and thought they would be a good thing to use. I'm not sure how many came in the bag but they didn't go far. Then I found in the closet some plastic cups we had left over from one of our parties. To make a long story short I ones in the plastic cups grew better than the ones in the peat pots. Why you may ask? Well my thoughts are that the peat pots dry out faster which causes the plant to grow slower. After I thought about this for a while I remembered as a kid I planted in peat pots and the plants never did well. The peat pots never broke down in the soil. I guess you live and learn.

This was little friend that I found crawling around an the plants and thought I would share it with you.

Seed update

It has been several weeks and most of the seeds have sprouted. The butterfly weed seeds are the only ones that have not sprouted. I think they were a couple of years old so it doesn't surprise me. I think I sowed the pepper seeds a little to thick. It is time to get them planted in bigger pots.
I bought some peat pots at Lowes but quickly ran out. Lots of little plants to transplant. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me. I also bought some marigold seeds to plant soon. Hope its not too late to start them.