I noticed this when we went to the mailbox the other day.  Virginia creeper toward the back, but Poison ivy in the front, right near the parcel box.  I would pull it out if I could, but I can’t, so just be careful when you are checking your mail.

 

It won’t jump out and grab you (like it does me) but if you brush against it you may have an allergic reaction.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Here is my flat of sweet potato slips.  Every single potato sprouted (eventually.) 

 

And now I have to find a place to put them.  I’m thinking about the arugula bed.  Hmmm.  Then what will we do for arugula?  Well, I’m still thinking about it.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Here is our special red mountain laurel just starting to bloom in the park.  

 

It is the only one I’ve ever seen, and I love checking in with it every year.  It’s not a big bush like some others in the park, but it catches my eye, especially when it blooms.  The buds are bright red, and they open to a soft pink.  

 

Very special.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Yes, it’s true!!!  The Laurels are blooming all over town and beyond.  They are blooming in the Park, in the neighborhood, and all along Mocassin Church Road.  Next time you drive to Blairsville, take the back road and you will see the Mountain Laurels in all their glory.  They are everywhere.

 

I really miss the ones in our backyard in Yorktown;  they were gorgeous.  But everywhere you look now, you can see them in bloom.  They always make me smile.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

These are the Oxeye Daisies growing in our upper garden, just below the wisteria.  This is just a small chunk of them.  They are filling that whole area where I threw out the wildflower seeds.  They make me so happy every year.

 

The flowers stand on stems about 12 inches high, and they move in the breeze.  They are growing all over our hillsides too, and I guess the deer don’t care for them, because they are still there.

 

Whenever I see them, I think:  I could never work on a grounds maintenance crew, because first of all I am highly susceptible to poison ivy, and secondly I couldn’t bear to cut down all the wildflowers growing on the hillsides.  Just couldn’t do it.  I would get fired for not doing my job.   

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Oh, and of course, you have to have cutting flowers in your garden.  This is Sweet William, or Dianthus, same family as Carnations.  

 

I am generally one for growing edible stuff, but one year I bought a pack of wildflower seeds, and sowed them in the upper garden along with all the wild Oxeye daisies.  Each year, something new has come up.  This year it is Dianthus.  There are white ones, pink ones, and these gorgeous fuchsia ones.  They grow on sturdy stems, and are great for cut flowers.  We had one last over a week in a vase.  But they are so pretty out in the garden, I just leave them there.  

 

I hope they reseed themselves, so we have them next year too.  If they don’t reseed, it is worth buying more seeds because they are so pretty, and easy to grow.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

This is Salad Burnet.  Such an interesting salad green.  You won’t find it in the grocery store, but you can grow it so easily from seed.  And once you plant it, you can transplant the baby plants the next year, and the year after, and on and on.

 

Salad Burnet is a low growing, mounding plant, about the size of parsley.  And it is pretty enough to grow in a pot or in your front flower bed.  The leaves taste and smell like cucumbers, adding a delightful addition to your salad greens.  The stems are a bit tough, but the leaves strip off the stems easily.  We add about 6 stems worth of leaves to every lunchtime salad mix.  

 

Who needs to BUY mixed greens, when you can grow your own?  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

And now into the garden!!!

 

This is a Romaine-type lettuce, an Austrian heirloom.  Its name is Forellenschluss.  :)  It is a delicious lettuce, it’s fun to say, and the best part is that forellen is the German word for Trout.  So we call this Trout Lettuce.

 

So, of course, I have to grow it in my garden.  We planted 6 of them, and they are truly beautiful right now.  We already harvested one, and made lettuce wraps with turkey salad.  Delish!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t really think about it, but holly trees bloom.  Of course they do!!!  That’s how they make those great red berries.

 

Well, we weren’t really thinking about it the other day when we walked the loop, but as we were walking down the hill toward the creek, a really sweet smell came up.  We didn’t see any roses, or Black Locust trees, so we looked around, and noticed that the holly trees are blooming. 

 

Not an overpowering smell, just soft and sweet:  inconspicuous you could say.  And very pleasant.  I hope you notice some on your springtime walks.

 

 

HAPPY HIKING!!!

 

Don’t you just love it when the Rhododendrons bloom?  Me too!!!

 

I hope you have some in your neighborhood.  We have lots here, and there are a bunch in the park blooming.

 

If you ever get over to Hiawassee, to the Georgia Mountain Fair Grounds, there is a little park there, and there are hundreds of rhododendrons.  Definitely worth the trip this time of year to see the Rhodies in bloom.  You might also see some trilliums and Jack-in-the-Pulpits.  Great park.  

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!