REALLY!!!  Jon took this picture early in the morning.  See the sun just coming up?  

 

OK, for perspective:  that Dead End sign is 6 feet tall.  Gizmo is up the tree another 3-4 feet.  He's  hysterical.  He really keeps us laughing.  The deer love teasing him too.  They get up close and stomp and snort at him.  He just plays along, then runs home.  

 

Thought you might enjoy a laugh to get your day off to a fun start.  

 

HAPPY SATURDAY!!!

 

 

Look who else we saw in the park!!!  I knew it was a Showy Orchis, and my Seek app confirmed it.  Galearis spectabilis, or showy Orchis is a threatened native orchid.  It is native to eastern Canada and much of the eastern half of the United States.    

 

This is the only one we saw in the park, but then again, we stay on the trail.  There may have been more up on the hill.  We've seen a showy Orchis down on the Creekside Trail, near the little bridge.  But I haven't seen it there yet this year.  I'll keep looking.

 

Be on the lookout for interesting wildflowers on your walks.  It's that time of year when all kinds of flowers pop up.

 

HAPPY HUNTING!!!

 

 

 

Another gorgeous tree!!!  This Kwansan Cherry, Prunus serrulata Kwansan is one of many in Meeks Park, near the entrance.  This cherry tree blooms AFTER the leaves emerge, and the leaves are a little on the olive side of green.  Still, gorgeous!!!

 

As with the Dogwood, if you want to plant one in your yard, do it soon.  Summer is too late to plant trees.  You can't keep enough water on them to get them going.  Or do like we do:  just go to the park and admire them there.  They should be blooming at least for the next week.  Look around, you may see others.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I showed you the Cinnamon Fern last week.  This is how much it has grown in just one week.  You really need to go down there and see it.  It's fabulous!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is in Henry and Tere's garden:  Aji's pink Dogwood.  Tere planted it for her mother, Aji, who loved being in our mountains.  She would sit in a rocker on the porch from morning until night, enjoying her surroundings.  Tere had to beg her to come inside to go to bed.  

 

You can see a white and a pink Dogwood in Judy and David's yard as you come up the hill.  So pretty!!!!

 

If you decide to plant a Dogwood in your yard, do it soon.  Spring and Fall are the best times to plant trees.  Jon and I just planted 3 white Dogwoods and 2 Redbuds in the orchard.  We got them at Nelson's Ace Hardware in Blairsville.  They have beautiful trees, and competitive prices.  

 

When we moved here, Momma would ask me what I wanted for my birthday, and every year I said,  "Trees for the orchard."  We have planted lots of fruit trees, and now these beautiful flowering trees, feeding our bodies and our souls.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I LOVE seeing the Trilliums.  There are so many different ones, but they all share these characteristics:  Three leaves, three sepals, three petals.  

 

This is Trillium cuneatum, commonly called Toadshade, Whip-poor-will flower, and Little Sweet Betsy.  Funny how the flower opens to this, looking NOT open.  

 

It is native to the southeastern United States, but it is especially common in our region.  This one is at Meeks Park near the river and colonies of Bloodroot.  

 

I just read that trilliums generally have an unpleasant odor, like rotting fish.  YAK!!!  Glad I never noticed that.  The book said it is noticeable when you boil the roots.  Yeah, NO, not going to be doing that.   We just want to see them in the woods.  Look for them.  They are just getting started.  

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

Here is Gizmo, on his perch.  He crashes here every day about 10 am.  That is, after he has tormented the deer, chased the leaves, and climbed the trees.  

 

It's hard work being a kitty.  

 

 

GOTTA REST NOW!!!

 

 

 

Huge patches of Violets are blooming all over Meeks Park, and I bet everywhere else.  I've seen smaller clumps on the Creekside trail, and in our orchard.  

 

My Magic and Medicine of Plants book calls them Sweet Violet, and Sweet-scented Violet, Viola odorata.  Hmmm, I guess I better bend down next time and get a whiff;  I never noticed that before.  I just notice how cheerful they look.

 

Violets and Pansies are both in the genus Viola, and just like Pansies, Violet flowers are edible.  Please note MY definition of edible flowers:  They may not taste like anything, but if you eat one it won't kill you.  We just use them as a garnish, or to decorate a happy hour dish;  Martha candies them and puts them on cakes.  

 

You know that Spring has arrived when you see Violets blooming in the woods and meadows.  

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

Don't you love it when the ferns emerge after winter?  I really love seeing the fiddleheads, and watching them unfold.

 

Polystichum acrostichoides, is also called Christmas Fern because the evergreen fronds are often still green at Christmastime.  It is one of the most common ferns in North America, living from Nova Scotia to Florida and west as far as Minnesota.  

 

An easy way to identify Christmas Fern is to look at the leaflets and you can see a small, triangular, "thumblike" lobe at the base.  Makes me think of winter mittens;  that's how I remember its common name.

 

I took this picture on the Creekside trail, where lots of ferns are emerging.  So exciting, Spring!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I took this picture last week at the park.  By now, all the Crabapples are blooming.  They come in white, pink, and this gorgeous red.  

 

They are all around, along 19/129 going to Blairsville, Murphy, and a couple here in the neighborhood.  

 

The little crabapples are edible,  but because they are SO SOUR, we leave them for the birds.  I've seen some recipes for jelly and sauce, but it involves WAY too much sugar.  No thanks.  

 

I'm pretty sure that Lowes and Home Depot sell young Crabapple trees; you can probably even find them at Walmart and Roses.  I guess we should plant a few on Crabapple Lane.  They are so pretty.

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!