I figured that I would give you a few flower shots, since I haven’t in a while.

There are three colored roses up there…pinkish white, white and red. I took a few pictures of the red roses, but they didn’t come out at all. They were all blurry. For some reason, my camera doesn’t like really bright colored flowers. It’s like there’s not enough contrast or something.

Anyway, here are those photos of what I think are Knockout Roses.

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Just wait until you see these pictures. The larger (more bloomed) flowers are so pink that the camera couldn’t get the color right. They almost look neon.

Okay, the purpose of this post is to show you the steps of a Peonies blooming. Strangely enough, we have a whole bunch of Peonies blooming right now and I was able to get five photos…one during each step of the bloom. It’s really neat. It’s like I took a picture every few days of the same flower. Check it out…

That last picture of the fully bloomed Peonies looks a little weird. I have a feeling we’ll be getting some better looking flower very soon.

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Okay, the truth of the matter is that Laura found a squirrel sitting in the bucket where my strawberry plant is planted. He was sitting there, not eating strawberries, but eating the actual plant. We have some very badly behaved squirrels. Very bad indeed. I knew where this was headed, so I had to do something.

I walked around the yard and found all the scrap wood I could muster up. Then, I ran out to the hardware store and got some of that rabbit (or whatever it is) fencing and got to work. After a few hours, this is what I cam up with…

I know it isn’t perfect, but I needed to figure out something fast on such short notice. I didn’t think the squirrels would actually eat the plants. Geez.

The fencing is stapled nice and tight to the sides. The top part is just a piece of fencing held down by bungee cords. I think it’ll be okay.

I have a feeling it’s going to get mighty crowded in that little garden, but at least I won’t have any issues with the vermin. Next year, I think I will limit my little mini-garden to just strawberries.

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In this batch, I have the Iris (some variation of the Bearded Iris, I think), the Hardy Geranium, Perennial Flax Flower (I think…or something close) and a few others that I can’t identify.

We’ve been playing nicely here. I post the pictures and you guys either correct me or simply identify the flowers that I don’t know. Let’s not stop now.

UPDATE: Once again, my trusted readers have come through. The two last flowers are Columbine variations. Thank you.

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I just found a website that helped me identify the Mountain Bluet. I already knew what the Bailey’s Gold was, along with the Rose. The last one is a little troubling. I have actually never seen this flower before. I am going to write a description of it below the photo in hopes that someone with know what it is and leave a comment.

As you can tell, it’s that last one I am having trouble with. I wrote down that it has pink flowers with white specks and spiky green leaves. It’s a pretty cool flower. I just wish I knew what it was.

UPDATE – I have learned that the last flower is a Dianthus barbatus. Thank you.

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I wanted to tell you that I found a pretty good website that has a bunch of flower pictures. I found one of the flowers I was trying to identify and another one that someone else identified for me. If you are looking to figure out what type of flower you have growing in your garden, give this site a try.

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This purple and white beauty bloomed yesterday. A few more came to life today and I expect the rest will start showing their colors tomorrow. When the entire row is bloomed, I’ll take some pictures for you.

The bearded Iris is, by far, my favorite flower. The flower stems are like small trees. They are tall and strong. Although the flower itself has a short life, it’s really good looking. The best part of all is that the Bearded Iris multiplies, so you can pretty much expand your garden as far as you would like throughout the years. I have these flowers growing all over the place here.

I took a few pictures of this bearded Iris today. I tried to get a regular shot, one from the top and another close up so you can see the pollen. Lastly, I got a photo of another plant’s bud.

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Initially, I didn’t know if they were going to take, meaning survive. Well, this Spring I noticed a bunch of new growth on some of the branches, but mainly from towards the bottom of the bush. I pruned out all the dead branches and the rose bushes are beginning to look pretty good. This is surprising because I wouldn’t say I did a great job of transplanting these things. I almost just ripped them out of the ground and plopped them in a dug out hole.

If you have not had the pleasure of seeing what the roots of a rose bush look like, let me tell you that they are pretty substantial. Rose bushes grow quite a bit under the ground and I have seen roots longer than six feet. I am not saying that I have seen this in a previous life, I’m saying that I saw this yesterday. Right at the base of the bush, if it is a few years old, you’ll find a gnarly root with a bunch of finer ones all tangled up.

If I had it to do over (which I actually did today), I would first cut the rose bush down to about a foot tall and then transplant it. This way, the plant is easier to work with and I won’t get my hopes smashed as I watch all the nice green growth wilt away.

As I said above, I transplanted six more Rose bushes over the past few days and I did it just the way I said I would, by cutting it down first and then transplanting it. Rose bushes are good at growing very, very fast under the right conditions.

Before I started writing this post, I did a little online research on “How to transplant a Rose bush.” You would be surprised at what I found. On one website, there was about two pages of instructions. They wrote all about the classic, “dig the whole twice as wide…compost…fertilizer” blah blah blah. I read this type of stuff all over the place and really don’t know who writes it. I get the feeling that the faster and dirtier the transplant job, the better things grow. I’m talkin’ pickup truck and chain style. The minute you stop and spend all sorts of time and money transplanting bushes and shrubs, they die.

Here is my advice when transplanting a Rose bush from my own experience:

1. Cut the bush down to 12 inches
2. Dig around the bush to remove as much soil as you can
3. Push the shovel under the Rose bush as much as you can and rock it back and forth to loosen up the plant
4. When it’s nice and loose, grab the roots and pull until you rip it out

To transplant:

1. Dig a hole
2. Plop the bush in the whole and cover with dirt
3. Water a few times a day for about a week

One word of warning for when you are trying to get the Rose bush out of its originating spot – You are going to sweat, get dirty and if anyone is driving by, laughed at.

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Sorry, make that two I can’t identify.

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