Garden Pic Wednesday: Yellow Flag Iris!

My Flag Iris are in bloom right now, so that's today's beautiful Garden Pic:

Flag Iris are an Iris for outdoors. They love ponds and bogs and drainage ditches---any place where their feet can get wet, at least sometimes. To bloom well, they like partial shade to full sun.

The leaf blades are very tall--36 to 45 inches. And they spread gradually, too, so you do want to place them where they can do so.

Mine are in my rain garden.
I'll probably need to thin them out a little in the fall.

Today's Project was general clean-up. 

I worked on the north side, trimming Ivy and mowed just that side. I mowed because I wanted some cuttings mulch to put down over cardboard I laid in a bed and over newspaper I put around my Gerbers.

Yesterday I cleaned up Siberian Iris row in the front corner bed, which was full of last years dead leaves and cleaned up the patio area in back.

I actually finished the patio clean-up today and put out the chairs.

I walked back by the Bluebird house and I think I scared the Mama out. She's been laying I think.

She'll lay one egg daily, 4 to 7 eggs, then will start brooding.

Bluebird boxes are fairly deep, but she built the nest fairly tall inside there, so her face is about level with the hole when she's sitting.  I thought that's probably to make it easier for the male to bring her food while she's brooding and will put the chicks in easier reach.