So last year, as you'll remember, I got two stalks of Iris flowers, on the NOID blue-purple plants, and that was it. No other blooms, no other colors.
It's looking like that was mostly due to 2011's drought, because this year I got blooms on all the Irises except for the NOID blue-purple one.
(N.b. before we launch into the pictures: I request that the reader pay no attention to the dandelions and other weeds in the background. Or if you must notice them, at least don't judge us for them. Not that we don't deserve the judgment. I'd just rather you didn't, is all.)
'Reincarnation:'
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'Reincarnation' bloomed last fall as well (it's a rebloomer), but I apparently didn't blog about that even though I took the pictures. Go figure.
'Shelley Elizabeth:'
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'Shelley Elizabeth' previously: 2012
'Frivolous:'
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I'm not sure I was aware, prior to hearing about 'Frivolous,' that yellow irises could be bright dandelion yellow, as opposed to pastel gender-neutral-nursery yellow. But they can. Oh, how they can.
All three varieties were gifts from Ginny Burton. (So was the NOID blue-purple that didn't bloom, as far as that goes.)
Bonus unidentified irises that aren't mine:
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Spotted here in town. There was also a completely unreal number of orange poppies1 in this yard, which may or may not get a separate blog post later.
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This purple and white combo from the University of Iowa Hospital would have been much more impressive if I had been able to capture the whole planting at once. There were other priorities that day, though,2 so the above are the only two shots I attempted.
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1 Having trouble with subject-verb agreement here. Is it "was . . . a number" or "were . . . orange poppies?" I'm about 75% sure it's the former, but somehow both sound wrong. Maybe I still have enough of a cold that it's impairing my grammar. (Evidence in favor of this theory: in the previous sentence, I wasn't sure whether it should read "enough of a cold to affect my grammar" or "enough of a cold to effect my grammar," so I reworded it to get around the question. Though affect is right, isn't it?)
2 Neither I nor my husband were the patient, and we're both fine as far as we know. The explanation for what we were doing there is long and complicated, has an unclear diagnosis and an ambiguous prognosis, and isn't something I feel like sharing with the whole internet, so that's all the explanation you get.
2 Neither I nor my husband were the patient, and we're both fine as far as we know. The explanation for what we were doing there is long and complicated, has an unclear diagnosis and an ambiguous prognosis, and isn't something I feel like sharing with the whole internet, so that's all the explanation you get.
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6 comments:
Your grammar is fine, mr_s! So is your yard. Everyone has some weeds, there's no shame in that.
All those Irises are gorgeous! Are they blooming now? I'm trying to gauge how far behind in the bloom cycle you are from me. I was in Santa Fe last week and they still had Irises blooming. Mine have been done in Abq for weeks, but it's also already in the high 90s tempwise, so the Irises wouldn't stand a chance in that heat. I'm always curious to know what's blooming in other people's gardens. (So I hope to see that poppy yard you referenced.)
Glad you and the husband are ok!
1) Nice irises. If you got the iris bug you should look at Rainbow Iris Farm and get totally overwhelmed!
B) The dandelions and "weeds" are there because to support butterflies and native pollinators (bees)!
III) I think it's "were" and "affect"
Having been blasted by your readers for correcting "preventative" to "preventive"* I'm hesitant to jump on your questions, other than to give an affirmative to "affect." I pulled out my "Fowler's Modern English Usage" and had a delightful time reading the three pages under the "Number" entry. Hilarious! I started to transcribe the whole passage comparing "the natural man's" opinion to that of "the sophisticated man," but decided you should look it up for yourself, if you have a copy, or you can probably find it online.
*I don't use any dictionary newer than 1970, sorry!
It is "were" and "affect."
"Were" because, in this case, "number" is plural (as the additional information "of orange poppies" makes evident). For example, you would not say "There was a number of people at the parade." You would say "there were." If "number" was obviously singular then use "was." For example, "There was a number 10 on the side of the mailbox."
Pathetic show of dandelions. Do you not feed them? I used to have a 3m x 3m lawn that was just dandelions and daisies. Spectacular in flower and clock.
Oh, thanks Paul. I don't think I ever knew that about was/were. Great use of examples to illustrate your point.
Rather than dwell on being wrong about that, I'll just remind myself that it's been an awful long time since I was in grammar school. As if the time lapsed explains everything.
Ginny, I'm curious, why don't you use modern dictionaries? I'm surprised by that, since language evolves alongside us. They add and subtract words all the time from the dictionaries.
If my question brings up terrible memories from your childhood or something like that, please ignore me! I only asked because you brought it up. But you are welcome to tell me it's none of my beeswax! You too, mr_s, since I asked on your site.
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