Thanks, everyone. The tall bearded iris have bloomed exceptionally well this year. And that one Siberian iris and the rose sort of grew together and look look blooming with each other. Debra, yes snapdragons last all summer here until frost. Of course if there is no rain I have to water them. And the mosdern Sibgerians are quite fancy and the tets usually have much bigger flowers than the dips. Cindy, the one lupine is the only one to bloom there but there are actually four lupine plants in there. The rest all died. So I just bought a flat of snapdragons and stuck them in there fo0r this year to give some color. I did plant Fruit Punch poppies in there in back of those snaps so they will bloom there next year. I have some Fruit Punch in another area and they are blooming now. I am seeing more and more scapes each day so I guess it will be an early season.

We shall see. I took your advice Dave, took the gloves off, took the top inch or two of kraut off the top and chucked it. Drained off most of the brine in the jar, added some fresh brine with it in a pot and heated it. Put in jars and processed. I did taste some of the leftovers stuck in the pot and it tasted good! I'm guessing I might have to rinse off some of the fresh brine when it's time to go but it had good flavor and a nice snap to the kraut. I didn't go blind from the stuff I ate so I hope I'm good!!

Thanks Beth for the nice comments My gosh, I had a whale of a time And planning to do another one next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. If all's well. Beth is your MG new or just taking a bit of time to bloom. Thanks Carla for the sweet compliment What paradise, just gave me ideas to just pack up and move to the Caribbean. When I got back home I was a bit depressed for a while, and now just starting to snap out of that zone after a month. Getting back to reality. Niecey

Lovely picture with great composition. American Coppers are pretty common here in CT. but I still find them to be very beautiful. I see them early in the spring through October. Maryann