It's summertime, time for fun in the sun, and time to talk about poison ivy!!!

 

I took this picture in the park, because it shows both poison ivy and Virginia creeper.  Poison ivy has three leaflets, and is a bit shiny.  Virginia creeper has five leaflets, see it on the right?  I'm not sure how, but some people see these as the same plant.  OK, they are both green vines.  Beyond that, not even close.

 

Poison ivy and Virginia creeper grow all over;  on the ground, up the trunks of trees, near the mailboxes.  Be on the lookout when you're walking in the woods, hiking the trail, or working in your garden.  And remember, you can shake hands with five fingers, but NOT WITH THREE.  

 

Love you, stay safe.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know you know what arugula is, we've all seen it in the produce department.  But have you ever seen it blooming?  Only if you've seen it growing.  When it's in bloom, you can see how it's related to broccoli, cabbage, radish.  They are all crucifers.  See the four petals in the shape of a cross?  All crucifers bloom like this.  
 

Botanically, they are all known as Brassicaceae, or the older name Cruciferae.  The family includes mustards, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, horseradish, radish, wasabi, turnips, collards, and kales.  Arugula blooms white, broccoli yellow, and radish blooms are often pink.  We let them all bloom so they can go to seed.  Then we collect the seeds, and start all over.  We haven't bought arugula seeds in years, but grow three crops each summer.  
 

In this picture, the arugula bed has been invaded by a bit of Queen Anne's Lace, see it at the bottom?  It's the one on the left with feathery leaves.  On the right is dandelion.  And the yellow flowers are blooms of bok choy that got tossed in the bed for fun.  I also see some chickweed, and morning glory, but don't look at them.(They're weeds!) and need to go away.  The rest can stay.  
 

Speaking of weeds, it's time to hit the garden, before it gets too hot.  Talk later.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!
 

 

 

 

 

This is Queen Anne's Lace blooming on my hillside.  Actually it's next to the steps going down to the bottom deck.  Probably going to have to remove it, but AFTER it finishes blooming.  I love these.  Maybe I'll just tie them back from the steps.
 

Queen Anne's Lace is in the same family as carrots, celery, parsley, cilantro.  Its botanical name is Daucus carota, and it's commonly called wild carrot.  The roots of first year plants are edible, wild carrots.  They bloom the second year.  By then the roots are too tough to eat.  Besides, carrots in the grocery store are cheap.  Why go to all the work to find, AND CLEAN the wild ones.  We've done it, because we could, but it's more work than benefit.  
 

You can see Queen Anne's Lace in meadows and fields everywhere.  Look as you're driving out of the community, in the meadow:  Lots of lacy umbrella shaped blooms, standing about 2 feet tall.  

 

Some people call them troublesome weeds.  WHAAAT?

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!
 

 

 

 

I love it when the tulip poplars bloom!!!  Isn't this great?   The trees are covered in these beautiful orange and green flowers.

 

Liriodendron tulipifera, botanically.  Common names include tulip tree, yellow poplar, tulip poplar.  If you work with wood, you've probably seen it for sale as yellow  wood or yellow poplar.  
 

Our neighborhood is full of Tulip poplars.  Lots down on the trail. They grow tall and straight, not branching until very tall, making them excellent for straight grain timber, and ships' masts.  Normally, they grow to be 100 feet tall, with a 40 foot crown.  Great shade trees.  We park under one at the Walmart in Blairsville.  It's near the gas station, at the outside edge of the parking lot.  

Orange blooms on a huge tree are easily spotted at 45 mph.  I can't miss them.  (You probably don't want to ride with me driving in the spring, cause I'm all about the trees, and everything else in bloom.)  Tulip trees have distinctive leaves too.  They are the only tree with 4 lobed leaves.  Even the leaves look like tulips.  
 

When you're out walking and see orange petals on the ground, look up.  You may be in the presence of a fabulous tree.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

Jon opened the basement door yesterday, and look who was there!!!  A Corn Snake.  Not poisonous, and really quite beautiful.  This one is about 2 feet long, and it slowly wandered off.  We took a video, but I don't know how to upload a video onto this site.  Sorry.  I'll work on that....
 

I looked in our Snakes of the Southeast book, and I think they may have used this one for their ID picture.  Their picture looks exactly like this one.  There is another picture showing it constricting a rat, but I'll spare you that photo.  Just so you know, though, corn snakes are also called red rat snakes.  
 

The good news is, when threatened, corn snakes generally try to escape.  This one didn't seem threatened at all; it just meandered along the house wall and out to the woodpile.  We didn't feel threatened either;  we just watched in fascination, and took pictures.
 

Love seeing critters up close.  Also glad Jon was there to identify it.  I might have been afraid, not knowing what it was, just that it was A SNAKE!!!  OK,  I'll get back to garden pictures. 
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

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!!!