We love Elderberry,  Sambucus nigra.

 

It is usually a shrub, but can grow up to 30 feet tall.  And it's blooming now, all along the roadways, especially next to rocks and walls.  There are several in our neighborhood, mostly down by the creek.  Look for it.  It's really pretty.

 

Some people make wine from the berries, but we've found that the birds get most of them.  That's ok, we collect enough  for our tea.  The leaves, bark, and roots contain poisonous alkaloids, and should NOT be taken internally.  But the ripe berries are interesting.  They are often prepared as a syrup to treat coughs and colds.  We just boil the berries and add them to our morning tea.  

 

I recently read that you can deter moles in your yard by poking elderberry sticks in the mole holes.  I'll let you know how THAT works out.  ;).

 

I just love seeing it in bloom!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Asclepias tuberosa.  It's also called Butterfly weed.  This is the milkweed that you can get from seed catalogs and garden centers.  It grows in dry, open soil, and roadways all over North America.

 

It also attracts butterflies, and is a host plant for Monarchs.  It grows in the meadow on the way to the front entrance of our community, and is quite noticeable when it blooms.  That should be soon.  

 

Hopefully it will bloom before Keith hays that field. 

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

We were walking in the park on Tuesday, and saw this little milkweed.  They will grow to be 3-6 feet tall, but I always love seeing it.  Milkweed, Asclepias spp., is the host plant for Monarch butterflies.  

 

Milkweed is a native plant that grows all over North America.  Interesting fact:  it was once cultivated for the silky down from its giant seed pods, which was used to stuff beds, pillows, and--during World War II--life jackets.  Hmmm.

 

The genus Asclepias contains several milkweeds.  Common milkweed has white to purplish flowers, and you can see these all over the roadways and in the woods.  The cultivated milkweed that you can get through seed catalogs has bright orange flowers.  Monarch butterflies LOVE all of them, and lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves, so the caterpillars can feed on the leaves.  You can tell when you have caterpillars because the leaves are all chewed up..  I love that sight.  It means we're helping the next generation get going.

 

I'll take a picture of the cultivated ones in my garden.  All the butterflies love them for nectar, but the Monarchs use them as host plants.  This makes milkweed an important plant to have in your garden.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

These are garlic scapes.  They are the blossom buds on foot long stems, all curled around.

 

I had to cut them yesterday, because I read that they draw energy away from the developing garlic bulbs.  AND they are edible!!!  Altogether, I collected about 40 scapes.  

 

We've never cooked scapes before, so I had to look up how to cook them.  Funny, before I knew how to use them, I was quite generous with a few friends.  Now that we've eaten them ourselves, I'll probably be a bit more stingy, since they only bloom once per season.  

 

We cooked them like you do asparagus or tender young green beans.  They turned out to be delicious, mild garlic flavor with a tender crunch.  I added them to a pasta salad, yummy!!!

 

I said this before in my garlic article, but you really should try planting your own garlic.  It doesn't take up that much space, and the whole process is delightful!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I know you know what garlic looks like in the grocery store, but this is what it looks like in the garden.

 

Garlic is in the Liliaceae family;  along with onion, leek, asparagus, daffodils, Easter lilies, etc.  Big family of plants!!  

 

Just like daffodils, and other spring flowering bulbs, garlic is planted in the fall, before the ground freezes.  Around here, no later than Thanksgiving.  All you have to do is separate the bulbs into cloves, and plant them blunt end down, pointy end up.  Cover the row with mulch to protect the young bulbs through the winter.  You could even plant garlic cloves in your flower garden;  they only require 5-6 inches spacing.  

 

I've tried planting grocery store garlic before.  Sometimes the bulbs are treated with anti-sprout chemicals, which prevents them from growing full size bulbs.  So I buy organically grown bulbs.  Had OK luck, but last year we got our garlic bulbs from Sow True Seed (Asheville, NC).  And it looks like we're going to have a bumper crop. These look fabulous!!!  The plants are about 3 1/2 feet tall, and you can see the thickness of the necks.

 

Garlic is harvested late June, into early July.  That means it takes 8 months to grow garlic, but there's not much else in the garden over the winter, so it's not taking up anybody's space.  

 

I can hardly wait to see what's under these plants!!  I'll take a picture of our harvest so you can see too.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

My friend, Melanie hiked up Brasstown Bald on Sunday, for the sole purpose of seeing these wild orchids in bloom.  What a beautiful picture she sent me!!!!  Flowers for Mother's Day!!

 

Botanically, Cypripedium acaule, Lady's slippers are fairly common wild flowers, especially in dry, pine-dominated forests.  They grow in colonies at low to middle altitudes, and bloom in late April, early May here.

 

I remember the first time I saw them growing in the wild, I nearly fainted!!!  I didn't expect to see so many.  As we walked further on the path, they were growing everywhere.  I've read that these orchids require certain microorganisms in the soil to grow successfully.  So transplanting them doesn't work.  Just enjoy seeing them in their own habitat.

 

If you'd like to see them, go up to Brasstown Bald, NOW!!!  Park at the bottom of the road, and hike up the trail that follows the road.  It's about 2 miles up to the parking lot, but you begin to see the orchids at about the 1/2 mile point.  It's not a difficult climb, but you probably want to take your walking stick, cause you will be going UP!!  

 

I hope you know how to identify poison ivy by now, cause it's all over that path too.  Another good use for your walking stick, to move it out of your way.  

 

 

HAPPY WILDFLOWER HUNTING!!!!

 

 

 

We have been busy planting the garden these last few days, with no time to get pix for the blog, so I'm showing you another one I took of the Korean dogwood last week.  Up close and personal.  

 

This picture really shows the pointy bracts.  Beautiful, isn't it?  One of my favorites.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is Cornus kousa, often called Korean or Chinese Dogwood.  And thankfully our neighbors on Five Forks Drive planted several in their front yard.  They're blooming right now, and are gorgeous!!!

 

Korean dogwood blooms about a month later than the native flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, after the tree has leafed out.  In all dogwoods, the true flowers are the cluster of green in the center of showy white bracts that look like petals.  The green flowers open up into fuzzy yellow balls of pollen.

 

You're probably familiar with Cornus florida, but Cornus kousa is less common.  Rather than rounded white bracts on bare branches, Korean Dogwoods bloom after the leaves have grown, and the bracts are pointed.  

 

Just like the native dogwoods, Korean dogwoods are beautiful year round:  red leaves in fall, red berries through the winter, beautiful silhouette all year!!  But they are absolutely best in spring, right now!!!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I know you've seen these all over.  They are called oxeye daisies.  

 

You may know them as Leucanthemum vulgare.  Oxeye daisy is extremely common, even weed-like, throughout much of North America, in waste places, pastures, meadows, and roadsides.

 

I've read that farmers dislike them because if eaten by cattle, they can produce an unwanted flavor in milk.  

 

Even though they are taking over a large area of my garden, I still love them.  They are cheerful, and make me smile.

 

Psst...we put a few young leaves (lighter green ) in our spring salads, for an interesting break from the norm.  Remember to taste just a tiny bit when trying something new from the wild.  And of course, be positive in your identification.  We use Peterson Field Guides to positively identify Edible Wild Plants.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!! 

 

Just so you get the picture.  Poison ivy is rampant around here. 

 

Know how to identify it, and be aware.  It's everywhere!!!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!