We noticed on our walk the other day that the Elders are beginning to bloom.  

 

This one is close to the top on Five Forks Drive.  But if you look around, you will see lots of them.  They are all over the hillside just below the WalMart in Blairsville, and all along the roadsides from Murphy to Jasper.  

 

They are easy to see now with their 6 inch white blooms, and when those fade you can see hundreds of purple berries hanging on the branches.  

 

I love seeing Elderflowers and berries.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is Mountain Laurel too. Usually they bloom in shades from white to pink.  These blooms are RED.  This is the only one I know of, and it’s in Meeks Park, right before the bridge. 

 

I have shown it to you before, a few years ago, but for the last two years it hasn’t bloomed.  That’s why I got so excited to see it this year, getting ready to bloom.  

 

Mountain Laurel is native to the eastern United States. I wonder if this one was cultivated and planted here, if it just hybridized itself and decided to be red.  Either way, we love it.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!! 

 

 

 

The Mountain Laurel is still blooming and is gorgeous.  

 

These bushes are about 10 feet tall;  you have to look up.  They remind me of the ones in our backyard in Yorktown.  I guess they get so big because the deer don’t eat them.  

 

Be sure to take Mocassin Church Rd. next time you go to Blairsville.  The mountain laurels are really pretty all along the roadside.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

Just checking to see if you have been paying attention.

 

 

Plant #1. Name this plant.

 

 

 

Plant #2. Name this plant.

 

Hint:  one of these vining plants you can touch, and the other NOT.

 

Extra credit for answering in the comment section.  :)

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The peas are blooming!!  That means we’ll have sweet peas soon.  These are called Sugar Magnolia Tendril Peas.  The tendrils are humongous, the flowers are purple, and the pea pods will be purple too!!  Sure makes it easy to see them.

 

So exciting!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

When I was taking the picture of the Ox-eye daisies, I saw these cute things blooming.  I had to look in the wildflower book for blue flowers, and found out they are Wild Blue Flax.  This perennial is related to the Common Flax (an annual) which is the source of the fiber for linen, and the seeds from which linseed oil is derived.  

 

This flax didn’t just happen to show up in my flower bed.  A few years ago I flung some old wildflower seeds around, and each year something new comes up.  I think I see some Black-eyed Susies in there too.  Very exciting.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Ox-eye Daisies are blooming all over the mountain.  They are so bright and cheery.

 

These are in my flower bed, and I can see them from the kitchen window.  I love that!!!

 

When they are finished blooming, I will cut off the spent blooms, and cut the greens back short.  They are perennial, and this way, they can stay in the flower bed, to come back next year.  I plant winter squashes at the edge of this bed, and they need room to sprawl.  Everybody wins.  I get sweet flowers AND squashes, all from the same little piece of earth.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I am so happy!!!  This winter we thought that the sage was a goner.  The Rosemary got hit by the cold, and the sage looked pretty awful too.   We had to start over with the Rosemary, but over the last few weeks the sage has made a comeback.

 

And now it is blooming.  YAY!!!  We use the leaves when cooking chicken and turkey, and the flowers get sprinkled on top of salads.  I have a friend who puts a little bundle of sage in a vase to serve with cheese at happy hour.  

 

We love our sage.  I am so glad it survived.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look how pretty the Arugula is at this stage!!!  The whole bed isn’t bolting yet, but this bit is.  Wait, I’ll take another picture of the whole bed for you to see.  Be right back……

 

 

The plants in the front of the bed aren’t bolting because I harvest the leaves using a “cut and come again” method.  Instead of picking single leaves, I hold the tops of the leaves and cut just above the growing point.  That way, the plant continues to branch and grow, instead of growing straight up and going to seed.  

 

The ones in the back that are bolting:  are too far into the bed for me to reach.  Hahaha!!!

 

That’s OK.  We can eat the leaves in the front, and the plants in the back can go to seed, and we’ll have seeds for next year.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Looks like I didn’t get this into the garden soon enough.  This baby cauliflower is growing in a 6 pack with 5 other plants.  You can also see some unplanted kale, and Savoy cabbage.  

 

Oh well, I did get 6 cauliflowers, 6 Savoy cabbages and lots of kale into the garden.  They are all doing great, just not heading up quite yet.  I will show you when they do. 

 

Jon suggested that this is probably the world’s smallest cauliflower.  I wonder if there is a prize involved.  ;)

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!