This lily is also blooming in our wild garden.  One of my students gave me a 4 inch pot of these more than twenty years ago.  

 

We planted them in the terraced beds, and they were really pretty.  They grew and multiplied until there were about 50 blossoms.  Then the deer discovered them, and that was the end of that.  I was able to rescue a few of the bulbs and move them to the wild garden.

 

We planted them near the top of the garden, and as the years have gone by, they have migrated to the middle and bottom of the bed.  I think moles dig tunnels, and the bulbs travel through them.  That, or the squirrels are replanting them.  Who knows!!!  I'm just glad to see a few orange blossoms every year.  

 

These will satisfy my need for lilies until Roxanne's bloom.  That will be soon;  they are loaded with buds.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look who's blooming in our wild garden:  Fire Pinks.  

 

Its name is Silene virginica, and is in the same family as the familiar cultivated carnation.  We love seeing these bright red stars in our garden, and all along the road in our travels.  Keep an eye out on Moccasin Creek Rd.;  you'll probably see some there.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is an Elderberry in bloom.  This tree is on Stonebriar, as you climb the hill from the creek.  It's almost to the big switchback.  But you can see them all around, in wet areas, and next to rocks and walls.  There are some on the hillside on 515 near the WalMart in Blairsville.  

 

Elderberry, or Sambucus spp. is a shrub or small tree that can grow to 30 feet tall.  There are several species:  European Elderberry, Red Elderberry, and American Elderberry which is a species native to North America.  Since the Elderberries that we see are growing in the wild, I'm guessing that these are the native ones.  Let's run with that.  Sambucus canadensis.  

 

You need to know that the leaves, bark, and roots contain poisonous alkaloids and should not be used internally.  But the berries of Sambucus taste delicious, and we dry them and use them in our winter tea.  Some people make wine and jams using the flowers and berries.  

 

Best of all, they are really pretty right now, in bloom.  Be on the lookout for Elderberry.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

OK.  Here's your gardening lesson for today:  You do NOT want these in your garden.  Because once they take hold, you lose the battle.

 

These are the caterpillars of Cabbage White butterflies.  The butterflies lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves in the Brassica family.  That includes cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, mustard, and arugula. Then the caterpillars EAT HOLES in the leaves.  

 

I see twenty-one on this one mustard leaf.  That leaf is no longer on that plant.  :}  I picked it off and squished the little munchers.  I check every day, and pick off as many as I can.  But it is a never-ending process.  

 

I don't want to try to control Nature, just my little corner of it.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

Since World War I, the red poppy has been a symbol of remembrance and a way of honoring those who served and lost their lives in war.

 

I read in Wikipedia:   Memorial Day (previously called Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

 

There are other interesting articles on the subject:  Check out Red Poppies and In Flanders Fields   to learn more about the history of these symbols of Memorial Day.

 

Let's take time this weekend to remember those veterans who served their country to the end, and honor them and their families for their sacrifice.

 

 

THANK YOU !!!

 

 

 

Have you smelled the Ligustrum lately?  Ligustrum is THE official smell of summer, according to Jon and me.

 

Often called Privet, some shrubs are evergreen, and some are deciduous.  They are used by landscapers to create privacy hedges;  we had six evergreen ones across the front of our yard when we were little.  They were huge, and definitely created privacy.  They also invited thousands of bees to our yard.  Maybe that's how we had so many apples:  pollinators!!!  

 

There are several deciduous ones growing in our neighborhood:  one down by the creek, and one up on Five Forks Drive, across from the corner of Bella Vista Point.  Just go up there and breathe the air on a warm day, and you will locate the Ligustrum.  

 

It is right next to a wild Elderberry bush;  I'll write about that soon.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look at my cabbages.  They are starting to form heads.  Yay!!!  

 

Did I tell you that I grew them from seeds?  Yep.  Karen gave me two packs of cabbage seeds in March, so I planted half a flat with cabbage seeds, and they ALL germinated.  I'm not too good at pitching extra plants, so we still have cabbages in 6 packs.  We also have 8 plants in the garden:  and they look great.

 

Now the challenge is to keep the cabbage white butterflies off of them until their heads are set and firm.  I go out every day and look for chewage on the leaves, and squish any caterpillars eating my plants.  So far, I'm winning.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

LOOK!!!  The garlic scapes have appeared.  Scapes are the flowering stalks of the garlic.  They emerge and curl around, little goose necks.  The whitish part is the flower bud, and the stems are called scapes.  We eat the scapes.  But not the flower bud.

 

I learned years ago (the hard way) that if you don't cut off the scapes, the garlic bulb will not develop.  The plant sends all its energy to the flowers to produce seeds.  We don't grow garlic for the seeds;  we grow it for the bulbs.  So yesterday I cut off all the scapes, and shared some with friends.  I added some to the quiche we were making. That was really  good.

 

The best way to cook scapes is like green beans:  cut off the flower bud, and cut the stems into 2 inch pieces.  Then we steam them about 5 minutes, and blanch them in cold water til they are cold.  Then we sauté them in butter for about 3-5 minutes, til they get hot again.  You don't need to add garlic to the pan because, they ARE garlic.  Mild, but definitely garlicky.  

 

Aren't they pretty?  Now we just have to wait another month or so, and we can harvest the garlic bulbs.  I'll get back to you on that.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

Our Sage is blooming!!  I planted a 4 inch pot of sage about 10 years ago, and it just keeps growing and getting prettier.  

 

Botanically, sage is Salvia officinalis, and has been praised throughout history for its powers of longevity.  Even the name salvia from Latin, means to be in good health, to cure, to save.  

 

Sage is valuable as an aid to digestion of fatty foods.  My sister likes to serve sage leaves along with cheeses at happy hour.  She puts the sage leaves in a little vase next to the cheese tray.  I love that idea.  We use the leaf as a cracker for the cheese.  And of course, we sprinkle the flowers in our salad.  

 

You can see, there are lots of flowers right now.  They taste like...sage.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Have you noticed all the wildflowers on our hillsides?  The yellow ones are Small's Ragwort (achoo), and the white ones are Ox-eye Daisies.  These are growing in my yard, just beyond the driveway.  We let them stay.  There are also a bunch growing in the garden;  they have to go.  You see how prolific they are:  ie. they take over.

 

Ox-eye Daisy or Chrysanthemum leucanthemum are common wildflowers in our area, and they are edible;  the young leaves taste lemony, and we use them in salads.  The flowers are edible too, but don't taste so good, but they won't kill you if you use them for decorating a cake or something.

 

I could have used a picture that I took of the hillside, but I chose this one because we are being watched.  Look right in the middle of the picture and you can see Gizmo looking at me.  Really, he was chasing a chipmunk or bug or something, but he camouflaged so well, I had to take his picture.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!