Strawberry season

I spent this evening gathering fresh strawberries out of my garden. I processed two quarts by washing them, slicing them and sugaring them for strawberry shortcakes. The rest I put in a pot to wait until I get them turned into jam.

Last year this time, I usually did them as soon as they came into the house. Of course, I worked nights then. Still, even though I did them, I was usually only half asleep. These days, I'm up early and to bed early, getting much more rest, feeling like I have a lot less day, even though it is after dark until I get to sleep. But I sleep more.

I still have to figure out how I want to do these strawberries. I'll probably wait until Saturday unless I'm feeling energetic tomorrow night. Who knows. Usually Fridays I do stay up well past the bewitching hour and do feel energetic. Maybe I'll make at least some of the jam tomorrow. I have enough strawberries to make three batches of jam. However, I'll be lucky to have enjoy sugar for two.

We love strawberries in the house. That's why I grow a patch, harvest it and make desserts and jams out of it. After the season is over this year, I will rip out the plants as they are now getting old and replace them in the spring. The process will start over again without a crop next year. We'll have plent of jam to last us until the next harvest. Fresh ones could be at a premium though. I guess we'll just have to survive on the California berries that are shipped here around March or so.

A funny thing happened on the way...

I have a photo contest coming up the 16th of June. Of course, in preparation of this, there is a lot of photographing going on around my house. The contest of roses, but I'm never one to resist a pretty shot. The other day I was out because the rose beds were in their glory. Husband caught the bug when he saw me walking around the garden and got his camera as well. Between us, we took 156 shots.
I got the camera with the most shots uploaded first, cleaned it out in preparation for the next shoot and hooked up the second camera.

Husband couldn't wait until the larger slower camera was uploaded and decided to look at the pictures already on the computer. All these 100 photos were selected as he looked at them. Then he said to me, "I'll show ya somethin'. This one is blurry so I'll delete it." He hit delete and sat there staring at the computer as each of the 100 pictures disappeared, one at a time!

"Oh," he said, "You can upload them again since I

accidently deleted them. I responded that I had already deleted them from the camera. YIKES!! There were pictures in that bunch that I really wanted for the photo contest.

After some digging, we found out where the computer stores deleted picture files and were able to restore them. I told Husband he was lucky that we found them. Otherwise....

These are a few of those pictures from the retreived deleted files. Yep, I was not happy about that incident. I told Husband to keep his hands off my computer from now on. He's always complaining anyway that I don't have my machine set up the same way he has his set up. He was lucky we found those files.

Right Now

Gruss an Aachen, rose, considered the first floribunda actually introduced 30 years before the class. This is my favorite rose. It's hardy, disease resistant and very fragrant Since it was introduced in 1909 it is often considered an antique rose.



My tall bearded Iris garden is in full bloom right now. There are nine different hybrids in this bed and soon to be more.

Today's Shots

Some favorite shots from the garden today...



Theresa Bougnet, Hybrid Rugosa, very fragrant










Baronne Provest, Hybrid Perpetual, very fragrant











Gnus Flash, Tall Bearded Iris, fragrant, rare stripped variety

















L. Candida, clematis, large dinnerplate flower, introduced in the 1890's. My favorite clematis and the only one I'll have in my garden.




























Romantic Evening, Tall Bearded Iris

Something Pretty

Barrone Provest. This is a lovely but not small Hybrid Perpetural old rose from the late 1800's. I got this plant when I visited Vintage Gardens near San Francisco and had it shipped home. The plant was one cane, quite small but bloomed well. I kept it in a pot and moved it with me where ever I went while building the house. That was in 2001. Now, the plant is an easy 6½ feet tall, just as wide. The fragrance from her hundreds of flowers wafts into my office. This plant is lovely. Not only tall, but bushy and wide and blooms quite well. Repeats well. Even though it is more disease resistant than my other Hybrid Perpetural, Frau Karl Druschki, it still wants weekly attention to keep it healthy. If you have a large spot that is crying out for a rose, this is one I would recommend. The fragrance is strong and heavenly.

A Busy Day

Today was one of the biggest Saturdays of the year for me. It started bright and early with a plant auction in the Conestoga Historical Society http://www.lancastercountyheritage.com/heritage/cwp/view.asp?a=627&q=464544 http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacahs/wagon.htm. There, almost as soon as I got there, they were auctioning off a beautiful 3" cal. Zalkova elm which I got for a whopping $45. That's easily a $350 tree in these parts. It was one of the first things to be auctioned off. That's why I got it so cheap. After that everything started going for much, much higher so it was time to go. From there I went to the Penn State Extension here in Lancaster, where they were having their annual native plant sale. I had been there in March for their symposium, now for their sale. I managed to get some native plants that are still waiting to be planted. I'll get there.

After that, there were trips to Home Depot and Lowe's to look at shower tile. Did I tell you that I'm remodeling the master bath so that there is a huge 2 person shower in there as well as my whirlpool? I am also putting a window above the tub that will look out to a million dollar view of the mountain as well as let in some really great southern natural light. I'd also like to put ceramic tile floor in there, as well as a ceramic tile surround around the tub. I want a new vanity with two bowls and a granite top. The shower wall will be lowered to about 6 feet to let in natural light and will also make for a great plant shelf up there. I don't want much. Anyway, while we were there, I also looked at the hanging baskets. I want two for the front porch and three or four for the patio pots. Of course, everything at Home Depot and Lowe's are so generic that I was disappointed. So, we ended up at my favorite little flower shop right here in Conestoga called Tudbinks where for half the price of Lowe's and Home Depot's generic pots, you get some of the most beautiful custom made hanging flower pots. Of course I got hanging pots for my porch and pots for inside my pation urns.

Finally getting home, I put the hanging pots in my decorative hangers on the porch and place the pots in the urns on the patio. It was time for a short break. Shortly, the neighbor lady came over and was wondering where I found those gorgeous purple flower pots that she saw all the way at the top of Green Hill Road. I use deep royal purple patunias and yellow patunias for my back patio and this year I've also added a little red patunias as well. The front is red geraniums with something dangly, this year is sweet potato vine and orange miniature patunias. Apparently these pots stood out so much that the neighbor lady saw them all the way up the hill on her way home.

Then I hand fertilized about 2/3's of my roses, made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and helped find the perfect spot for the 500 lb. elm. Now I am no ready to call it a day. I think I'll run a bath and turn on those jets.

Checking the Lines

This happens every so often at the power lines that run across the back of my property. It's really cool to watch these guys as they check the power lines to make sure everything is operating fine. When I'm out and they come overhead, they'll often wave. I wave back.

This fellow is sitting on a platform. He probably has a place there where he can keep whatever tools he needs to do his job.

There is another team that will fly over and this fellow stands on the sleighs to inspect the cables. I have to admit, standing on the sleighs makes me nervous. I think it would be hard to keep your balance.

Still, it's cool to watch them as they go about their business.