The Garden Awakens
Anise 'Woodland Red' ( Illicium floridanum ) A few weeks ago, I thought spring would never arrive, but now the change is astonishing. The nights are still cold (40s and sometimes even 30s) so planting tender annuals and vegetables is unwise although I have already succumbed, but covering and uncovering things gets old quickly. Someone made a wise comment last week and I must agree with them - "Don't plant anything tender until after May 1". Several plants are blooming like never before. One is the Anise shrub (above and below). I don't know if the recent tree pruning, which is allowing more sun into the woodland path, is affecting it or perhaps it is just age, but I've never seen so many blooms. Michael refers to this as "the stinky fish shrub" and I have to admit to smell of the flowers is quite unpleasant. It is so beautiful that I can overlook that. The old pink dogwood tree, which was already here, shades our woodland path and it too is prett
The white cloud, which is also in our creek bottom, could possibly be Ageratina altissima, aka white snakeroot? Ours is happy with its buddy New York ironweed, Vernonia noveboracensis, and good old goldenrod.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful drive through the outback. Lovely wild flowers. I don't know the names of all of them but there are a lot of the same blooming around here.
ReplyDeleteTerrific pictures! I had forgotten how pretty it is here on back roads.
ReplyDeleteI love this post and your photos of the country. I, too, love to drive back roads. My parents always took us on Sunday drives in the country although we always lived in suburbia. Your pretty pictures bring back some good memories.
ReplyDeleteThe pumpkin face really makes me smile! Great pictures.
ReplyDelete--Emily
So beautiful! It looks like the more rural parts of VA. :o)
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually seen swamp sunflower growing in the wild, those big stands of it are beautiful. The plant with the feathery foliage is dog fennel.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteWhile I dearly love a cultivated garden, this has to be one of my favorite posts. I just love rural countrysides and wild meadows. This looks so much like the Ohio countryside where I live. I dearly love this quiet kind of beauty.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous. Don't you just love fall? It's starting to look similar here too, but we're a bit colder, and further along by about three weeks. Have a great week!~~Dee
ReplyDeleteSweetbay, thanks for the ID!
ReplyDeleteThat's lovely. Back roads are best--"blue highways", someone called them.
ReplyDeleteI had a chance to head west yesterday towards Williamsburg. It looks exactly like the pictures you have shown.
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