April 2010

Spring is in full swing. The front yard meadow is just starting to bust out with flowers and the backyard is greening up nicely. I'm very happy with the amount of plants that have come up from seeds deposited by last year's crop.

It looks like the blanket flower will have some company this year in the form of several varieties of coreopsis. This should add a little more yellow than previous years.

Last year I planted three Coreopsis basalis but they didn't last too long. I gave up on them, but they have come back from seed very strongly. Each of the old planting spots now has a healthy clump of several plants. Awesome.

A Coreopsis lanceolata (left) and the basalis pop up next to each other.

Gotta love the blanket flower.

A large black-eyed susan leads the flower charge leading up to the house bed.

Vanessa explores the backyard and is happy to still be taller than this oakleaf hydrangea.

Looks like a nice day for a nap in the forest hammock.

The blue-flag iris throws up a few signature blooms around Easter.

Vanessa would like you to smell it (go ahead, lean in real close ;)

See, like this.

Laurel oaks get very tall. If you try real hard, you might be able to see the top.

Back in the front yard, a necklace pod flower stands out against a blue sky.

I threw down a bunch of downy phlox seed last year. Didn't get a great response back then and I've only seen this one so far this year.

Another look at that fabulous black-eyed susan plant.

Siamese flowers.

A pineywoods dropseed flower catches the light.

A nice little cluster of tickseed.

A bee visits the first flowers of the season.

First Signs of Spring

OK, I'm finally caught up. Winter is pretty slow so I didn't bother taking any photos of the yard. The cold snaps seem like they're over and we've been getting some rain. The yard is responding in typical spring fashion. I'll start the tour in the front yard and then move to the back.

A few coreopsis have popped up in the meadow. At first I didn't they did too well but they seem to have established a good seed base now.

I'm really excited about the scrub mint. I plugged two of these between the muhly grasses and they soon disappeared. Now that the muhlys have been cut back this one is very noticeable. And this is the first time one has flowered!

There have been some small blanket flowers popping up all over the place, but only recently have any started to flower.

It looks like we should have a healthy black-eyed susan crop this year. This one got a little burnt from the late frost.

This blanketflower has several blooms already.

Moving into the backyard now. Like most of the plants, this was myrtle shows signs of new growth.

I cut most of the oakleaf hydrangea back this year, but I did leave a few branches as they were. This one is showing nice growth right next to last season's leaves. These give me the only hint of fall foliage in the yard.

Another specimen showing similar growth.

This sweet viburnum is not native, but it was one of the first things I planted when we moved in. Two of these just sat there for 5 years and didn't grow at all. Now this one has decided it's going to grow like crazy.

A few of the marlberries (marble berries) are ripening.

I planted two red bays several years ago. One has barely stayed alive ever since I planted it, but this one has always done great. It has lots of new buds on it now.

This also the first time the royal ferns have flowered. The three I planted struggled for awhile, and one even died. But now the two that remain have been doing very well. These flowers are a good sign that they're healthy.

The royal ferns share the bog area with lots of blue flag iris. Next month these should be putting up their signature flowers.

Another view of the bog area. The bromeliads aren't native, but our neighbor put some in a bucket and gave them to us. They sat in the bucket for over a year and they wouldn't die, so I figured they deserved a spot in the yard. There's also a few swamp lillies and soft-leaved coffees in there. The soil probably doesn't drain well enough for the coffees, but they didn't seem to be getting enough water where they were originally planted.

I cut the beautyberries back every year and they love me for it. Here is some new growth that should be a nice thick shrub by May.

NC Vacation

Yes, this blog is devoted to Florida plants, but we don't see stuff like this down here. Everybody loves a good fall foliage diversion. These are the mountains of Western North Carolina. Check out the rest of the pics on my regular blog.

October 2009

The view from the front porch.

The house bed is exploding with growth and the meadow is punctuated by the purple muhly grasses in full flower.

These dotted horsemint were amazing this year. Between the various specimens, I think I had flowers from August through February.

An elevated view as the sun goes down.

This is exactly how I envisioned this bed looking. I love the different textures mingling together. The blue/green color of the necklacepod really helps it stand out right in front.

I always love how the flowering goldenrod looks in front of the purple muhly grass. I highly recommend planting these together together. The goldenrod is tall and skinny and can squeeze in between tightly planted grasses.

A closer look.

Vanessa in the Meadow

I always enjoy exploring the yard with Vanessa. Usually, these photos get posted to her blog, but I thought they showed off the plants (almost) as much as they show off her. These are from last fall (September).

Vanessa deadheads some rosinweed.

Vanessa plucks the spent rosinweed next to a blooming dotted horsemint.

The Elliott's lovegrass give off that great haze when they bloom and make an excellent foreground for the horsemint.

It appears the goldenrod, horsemint and rosinweed are all taller than Vanessa.

Ummm, tropical sage smells so good.