I Lied, But It Was Unintentional

You might recall in a previous post I talked about a tall iris called 'Immortality' that supposedly died in my garden. Twice. Well, guess what? I lied. But it was unintentional. The position of this iris tells me it is the first one I planted, the one that hasn't bloomed since, oh, 2006.

Tall Iris 'Immortality'



The extreme close up in this case has to do with the fact that it's against the neighbour's chain link fence. I do not like chain link, since it does nothing to hide the sight of the neighbour's haphazard lawn care, and it does not protect my garden from the neighbour's weeds, which grow uncontrolled along the fence line (as you can see in this next photo of another tall iris about to bloom in that area).

Another Tall Iris



This is another iris that hasn't bloomed since 2006. I don't even remember what this one is called, since I acquired it so long ago. Anyway, I have a third tall iris which will give me blooms again this year, and that is 'Lullaby of Spring'. So, tall irises do somehow survive in my garden after all. They just bloom haphazardly.

The other thing I "lied" about was the Japanese Maple. Its leaves were completely dried up and curling on the branches last summer, so I assumed the entire tree had died. But no. The leaves were just fried. The tree came back healthier than ever this year.

Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood' -- Not Dead Yet



Here is another, more artsy, photo of those leaves.

Artsy Photo of Japanese Maple



It's artsy because it's got bokeh, with the little circles and everything. Some people say it can only be bokeh if it's got the little circles. Others say bokeh is any blurry background. People who care about these things have nasty fights about it on photography forums. And, speaking of photography, that reminds me. I had a question about my camera in one of the comments.

Poppy Ready to Pop



I have a digital SLR camera and a few different lenses. One of them is a dedicated macro lens, which as you may know is a nice thing to have when you take flower photos, because you can get up close to your subject if you want to (as in the poppy photo above). Another lens I have is really good at making bokeh, because it is a 50mm prime 1:1.7. If you don't know what that means (but you want to), you should see if you can find a good photography course in your area. I have taken some courses through the local art gallery and and a night class at the community college. But beware. The more you know about photography, the more expensive it gets.

Now back to the flowers. Of course, I am waiting eagerly for irises and poppies to bloom. The various cranesbills have started blooming, of which this (unknown) variety is one of the more interesting.

Unknown Cranesbill



With the little stars on the ends of the pistils, it makes them look like something out of Dr. Suess. Oh, and here is something else that looks like Dr. Suess, seed pods from a pasque flower.

Pasque Flower Seed Pods



Other current blooms include various heuchera, the weigela bushes, and of course, the ubiquitous aquilegia. (Ubiquitous because I have about half a dozen volunteers in highly inappropriate places, but they are so beautiful I can't bring myself to destroy them, even if they are growing out of my patio. Sigh. This is why you get close ups of these flowers, too. (You wouldn't know this was growing out of my patio if I didn't tell you.)

Patio Flowers (Columbine, or Aquilegia)



Next, the weigela, and some heuchera, and then we're almost done.

Weigela



Heuchera 'Hollywood'



Heuchera 'Gypsy Dancer'



And last but not... well, yeah, last and least, I guess. My harlequin honeysuckle. It's covered in aphids. Again. Except for this one flower, which only has one tiny aphid on it. The flower hasn't quite bloomed yet but it's almost ready.

Harlequin Honeysuckle Flower



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