It's that time of year!!!  Poison ivy is dormant in winter, but it is coming back!!!

 

I've written a few good articles about poison ivy.  To see them, scroll down through the archives, or go back to The Home page, and click the Searching the site tab.  Put in poison ivy, and the articles will come up.  

 

If you have experienced poison ivy, then you know about it already, but if you don't know about it, you SHOULD!!!!  It is all over our woods, near the mailboxes, growing up the trees.  

 

I'm trying to help you learn about it, so you don't have to learn the hard way!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

Have you seen Jim and Roxanne's Clematis?   It's worth the walk over there!!!!

 

Each blossom is about 6 inches across, and the vines are loaded with them.  Breathtaking!!!!

 

What I know about Clematis is they like their feet in the shade, and their heads in the sun.  If you get them in the right spot they will live for years, and grace your garden with beauty every spring.

 

I'm just saying, Jim and Roxanne got it right.  Maybe the garden gnomes helped a little.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Meet Sky.  She lives with Tom up on Bella Vista.  

 

She's only nine weeks old, but is already getting to know the neighborhood.  

 

If you see her and Tom out walking, please go slow.  She doesn't understand cars yet.  But she loves people, so stop and say hello.  They will be your friend forever.  

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!!

 

The first one in my whole life without my mom.  :(

 

If you love me, and want to show it:  do something kind for somebody today.  Not for me, for them!!!!

 

 

THANKS!!!!

 

We were walking on the Creekside trail last week and saw the Flame azaleas starting to bloom.  There must be thousands of them.  

 

Botanically, Rhododendron calendulaceum, these azaleas are deciduous, and bloom just as the new leaves are coming out.  It really makes the flowers POP!!!

 

The colors range from all shades of yellow to orange-yellow to scarlet.  You can see them on the trail, and in the woods on your travels.  Be sure to look for them;  they'll make you smile.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look who's blooming at our house!!!!  Wisteria!

 

Terry Thomas gave us some vines about 10 years ago, and we had the perfect place to plant them.  We planted them in a bed just in front of this trellis.  They took a few years to get established, and have been blooming ever since.  Now we have wisteria growing up the trees behind the trellis.  It is beautiful, and sweet smelling!!!

 

Wisteria is a fast grower, and will take over a flower bed or deck, so you have to be selective when planting it.  Give it space, and tall trees to climb, and supervision the first few years.  

 

You'll be glad when April comes and it blooms. 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

Have you seen all the dogwoods blooming??? Most of them are white, but they also come in red and pink.  

 

I love them all, but this one is my absolute favorite.  It lives in the Christensen's garden.  It was Ayi's favorite tree.  

 

Cornus florida is the botanical name of dogwoods.  The white ones are native to our area and grow all over the woods.  The pink and red ones are cultivated.  They all like sun and partial shade, but they don't transplant well.  So if you want one in your garden, it's best to purchase a healthy one from a garden center, so it has a better chance for transplant.

 

Dogwoods are beautiful in spring with their bright blossoms, in summer with clouds of green leaves, in the fall those leaves turn red and purple, and in winter bare branches sport bright red berries.  

 

Fabulous trees!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is our Redbud tree.  Breathtaking!!!!!  

 

Botanically, Cercis canadensis, the Eastern Redbud is native to Eastern North America, and grows from Canada to North Florida, and as far west as Texas.  Redbud is the state tree of Oklahoma.  It grows wild in our North Carolina woods, and is easy to spot at 55 mph, especially when it's blooming.  We've seen lots of them along the highways on our way to Virginia and back.  

 

Redbud is a smallish tree, growing to about 25-30 feet.  It usually grows as an understory tree, since it likes part sun, part shade.  It blooms in early spring, before the leaves emerge, with bright reddish-purple pea like flowers.  The flowers are clustered along the twigs and branches, and sometimes along the trunk.  

 

Besides her beautiful color, my favorite part about Redbuds is that the flowers are edible.  We look forward to putting these beautiful flowers in our spring salads.  They have a sweet tart flavor, and look so pretty!!!

 

I love it when our Redbud blooms!!!  Look for them this spring!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I told you I know very little about the life cycle of frogs.  True....but....

 

I also know that they hatch from eggs.  And this picture is of the empty egg case.  Same holding pond as yesterday's tadpole picture.  Just so you know.

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!!

 

 

 

Have you heard all the frogs' chatter lately?

 

Well, when we walked the loop on Sunday, this is what we saw down by the creek.  Tadpoles!!!!

 

I would love to chat about tadpoles, but I know very little.  Only that they turn into frogs!  ;)~

 

Thought you'd like to see what we saw.  

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!!