Summer 2009 Photo Contest!!

Karen at Write From Karen has a really cool contest running right now. Here are the details from her site:

This photo contest theme is: THEME: SUMMER / SWIMMING / VACATION / PARK / PICNIC / OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES / BBQ / FIREWORKS / WATER SPORTS

Show us your favorite summer photograph! But wait, it doesn’t HAVE to be a summer photograph. It can something that represents summer to you in your part of the world. Be creative, be fun – the more original the photo, the better chance you’ll have of winning!

To learn more about the contest click on the button above. Good luck to all the entrants. Here's my photo for the contest. It's the close-up of the Iris. These blooms were huge this year! My Iris were the only color I had in my garden for over a month! I'm stil waiting for the color explosion!

I had a hard time picking what theme I wanted to capture. I went with gardening. I had a lot of options though: 4th of July at night, the carnival rides, son's baseball, daughter's graduation, etc. For me personally, gardening is the biggest thing I look forward to in the spring and summer. The iris were the only flowers that came to bloom for the longest time in my gard











My perennial garden:
hostas, lillies, gayfeather, iris, lupine, coneflower, balloon, Jacob's ladder, bee balm and several annuals







This is my first year planting annuals in my garden. For the most part I wonder, "what's the point?" I like plants that do the work on their own, meaning, they come back every year. With my daughter's graduation and the plants not blooming on time this year, I decided to bring in color, especially pink since it's her favorite. Well, I'm now going to plant Portulaca every year! This Peppermint variety! I love it and it's doing so well.
I'm waiting for my Liatris (gayfeather) to start showing some color. I can't believe how late it is this year. It's huge this year!! Wish I could move my garage and make my garden bigger. I gave one of my Liatris bushes to my friend because it was hidden under my bee balm. I have a feeling I may have to do some rearranging next year!!!!