Wildflowers of North Carolina

I've recently had an opportunity to attend nature walks with knowledgeable guides. Below I'll post photos of wildflowers found in Spring. Most of these are in wooded areas and easily lost in the leaf matter. I've noted a common name for the plant although most plants have several common names, and you may be familiar with another name.

Bloodroot

Little Brown Jug

• Heart-shaped leaf
• Flowers under leaf matter

Spotted Wintergreen

Beech Drops

• Parasite of American Beech Tree [roots

Liverleaf Hepatica

• Liverwort 

 

Wild Violet

Wild Crane Fly Orchid

•   Blooms in June and July (North Carolina)

Quaker Ladies

 

Mayapple

I hope you have found this post on wildflowers interesting. Please comment if you have more information on these native plants or recognize them from your areas.

The April Garden: Ready to Roll!

Bearded Iris

It's early April and, while I am cautious about a late frost, it's time to plan and start on spring garden activities.

Asparagus

Vegetable Gardening

The asparagus bed has started producing. A weekend away resulted in a couple of foot-high stalks.

Asparagus Harvest 4-8-2018

About a month ago, I discovered new strawberry plants shooting off of a couple of last year's. With just a little replanting, I have two respectable rows of strawberries. Some of these are flowering and small green fruits are visible.

Strawberry Plant with Flowers and Fruits

If you read my blog, you might remember that we put down tarps and barrier fabric between rows and around plants. This was a super easy way to control grass and weeds growing around the vegetables. For the first time, we left most of the tarps down for the winter. This has saved us a lot of work as the rows are ready for planting.

The uncovered part of the garden is full of weeds and grass and will need tilling. In the past, I have planted sunflowers in this area. The squirrel predation was heartbreaking last year, and I am undecided about planting the sunflowers again.

Because of serious losses due to a wilt virus, no tomatoes or eggplant will be started in this garden. I'll have a few container plants on the deck.

Bush beans, zucchini squash, and yellow squash grow great and will be planted from seed soon.

Azalea

Flowers

I've transitioned most of my flowers to perennials. The bearded iris and azaleas are blooming now as the forsythia fades away.

Over the winter, we cut down two 20-year old camellias that had outgrown their locations. Although the blooms were gorgeous, these bushes were small trees and blocked window views. Sometimes life gets busy and plants really grow out-of-control. Guilty as charged. I am so excited to see out these new open views to the wildlife around the house.

Thanks for reading! I'll write more after I get some vegetable plants going. This will be soon I hope!

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