Woohoo!!!  Peaches.  
 

We have two peach trees.  Planted them about 13 years ago.  Some years the spring is too cold.  And some years the blackberry frost gets them.  But it looks like this year we'll get some peaches.  I'll let you know if we have some to share.  You pick.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

WOW!!!  Look at  all the baby apples on this tree.  Last year we had this many apples but the squirrels stole most of them....Until the apples got too big, then they couldn't haul them off.  So we got those.  This year we hope to get more.

 

Apples need pollinators in order to make fruit.  It takes at least two trees.  We researched it and found that Golden delicious are the best pollinators because their bloom season is long, and they are able to pollinate many other apple trees.  We love golden delicious apples, but the squirrels stole them ALL.  
 

We got one tree at Nelson's Ace Hardware in Blairsville that was grafted with three different scions.  Three different types of apples.  That way they can pollinate themselves.  
 

We love our trees, especially our apples.  When they are ripe, I'll let you know.  We may need help picking, and eating.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

This is lovage, growing in a pot in the yard.  It's not a wildflower, it's an herb.  
 

Related to celery and parsley, Lovage can be used extensively in the kitchen.  It tastes like celery and parsley.  We add it to salads, soups, ok, everything.  
 

Lovage is a perennial, and grows easily from seed.  I planted this one about 8 years ago;  a few seeds in a pot, and it comes back every year.  Some years it has bloomed, producing more seeds.  I planted those seeds in the garden.  More Lovage!!!  

Let me know if you want to grow it in your garden or flower bed,  it's beautiful and useful.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

This is what you are smelling these days when you're out walking:  honeysuckle.  Sweet!!!  It's growing all over the mountain.  

 

This is Lonicera japonica, the sweet honeysuckle vines we all remember as children.  We picked the flowers, and pulled the pistil through the bottom of the flower and sucked out the drop of nectar.  Now, I just add the flowers to my water bottle, and it flavors the water.  
 

There are hundreds of species of honeysuckle, and most of them are hardy, tough growing vines.  
 

Honeysuckle is an invasive species, meaning it grows quickly, and wraps around the trunks of trees and shrubs, choking them.  So many people hate honeysuckle. Not me.  I love seeing it wherever it grows.  And it smells beautiful..

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Look who's blooming at our house:  Amaryllis.  
 

My friends in Virginia sent the bulbs to us each Thanksgiving for many years.  They have always bloomed beautifully.  We used to "force" them to bloom in the winter. Lots of folks do that.  You take the dormant bulb and water it, and it begins to grow and bloom in about 6 weeks.  
 

That was fun, but now we just let them grow all summer, and store them in the basement over the winter.  When spring comes and the weather is nice outside we put them out and start watering them.  So, ours are on a natural schedule, no forcing necessary.  They bloom when they're ready.  
 

Look for Amaryllis bulbs in garden centers around October, November.  They are dormant at that time.  Just follow the instructions for forcing, and you'll have these gorgeous flowers in January and February.  After that you can let them do their own thing, or repeat the process for winter flowers.  
 

Btw:  I tried to plant them in the garden, but that didn't work out so well.  It's too cold here for that.  So we just overwinter them in the basement. 
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I love seeing the oxeye daisies in bloom. They are everywhere right now.  Look along the roadways, meadows, and hillsides.  They are even blooming in my yard.  
 

Botanically, oxeye daisies are Leucanthemum vulgare. They are extremely common, even weed-like throughout much of North America.  I've read that farmers dislike them because if eaten by dairy cattle, they can produce an unwanted flavor in milk.  
 

But, since I'm not a dairy farmer, it's ok for me to love them.  They are cheerful, and make me smile.  
 

Be on the lookout in your travels, especially throughout our neighborhood.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!
 

 

 

OK, I usually show you plants outside;  but this one is so cool, I just had to share.  This blossom is about 5 inches long.  
 

It is in the floral department at the Blairsville Ingles store.  It is a pitcher plant, and it's carnivorous.  
 

There are lots of carnivorous plants, and this is one.  The pitchers are the blooms, and at the bottom of each pitcher is some kind of liquid that decomposes insects that fall down inside.  Hey, everybody has to eat, right?  

 

Let's see if I can find out more about it.  Be right back......I'm going to Wikipedia and look up "pitcher plant."  Here's what I found: 

 

'Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be "true" pitcher plants are formed by specialized leaves. The plants attract and drown their prey with nectar.'  

 

Don't you love that description:  pitfall traps!!!!  Oh, so they are NOT blooms, but modified leaves.  

 

There are also some cool pix there.  And more explanation about "feeding behavior."  Have fun.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been so fortunate lately, seeing all the Mountain Laurel in bloom.  They are all over the neighborhood, all along the roadsides, in the woods.  Well, this one is at Meeks Park, and it's RED!!!  I've never seen one this dark.  Usually they are pink and white.  
 

It doesn't appear to have been planted:  it looks like it grew there naturally.  Go see it;  it's right near the bridge that leads to the Mill Wheel Museum.  I'm hoping to see more in my travels.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

My sister, Betsy sent me this picture of the rose garden at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.  
 

Mother's Day is the best time to see the roses.  They have just started blooming, and there are no dead heads yet.  Thought you'd like to see this picture.  

This month, Norfolk Botanical Garden was honored by the USPS with a stamp.  And it is of this very rose garden.  It's in a group of other famous botanical gardens.  
 

Thanks, Betsy.  What a lovely way to spend an afternoon:  surrounded by roses!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!
 

 

What a beautiful picture of Foxglove!  Al took this photo at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds on Thursday.  
 

The botanical name is Digitalis purpurea.  It is a biennial, meaning it has to be two years old before it blooms.  The leaves are a rosette close to the ground, and when it's ready to bloom it sends up 3 foot tall spikes that look like this.  Foxglove grows easily from seed;  you just have to be patient for them to bloom.   
 

It is extremely poisonous.  However, digitalis is prescribed in the right amounts to strengthen the heart, and regulate its beat.  Don't try this at home!!!!!!  One leaf chewed and swallowed may cause paralysis and sudden heart failure.
 

If you haven't visited the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, this is the most perfect time to go.  The gardens are full of mature Rhododendrons and hundreds of wildflowers.  And they are in bloom now.  You may see Jack-in-the-pulpit, trillions of Trillium, Digitalis, and Rhododendrons.  You may even see a pink Ladyslipper orchid.  It's over in Hiawassee, just past the Chop House.  It is a lovely spring outing.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!