Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Now that spring is really here, every scrawny twig in the woody corner of our yard has turned out to be a dogwood, and every bush is an azalea. We have a pair of dogwoods next to the front walk, and this one by the creek, besides all the little ones in the corner.

They also come in pink.



We don't have any pink ones in our yard. This photo was from our visit to the Duke Gardens.

According to mom, the dogwood represents the Easter story. The bracts are in a cross shape, and the cluster of flowers inside represents the crown of thorns.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth
17. Camellia
18. Little Sweet Betsy
19. Tulip
20. Andromeda
21. Redbud
22. Dogwood

Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

I can see the redbud trees in my yard from the window next to my bathroom mirror. The trees up the hill bloomed several weeks before ours, and I watched and waited for spring to come down the hill. At first, I had to look really hard to see the first touch of pink. When they finally bloomed, they were a treat to look at each morning when I woke up. Now, they have put out their leaves and there are only a few blooms left on the trunk.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth
17. Camellia
18. Little Sweet Betsy
19. Tulip
20. Andromeda
21. Redbud

Andromeda (Pieris japonica)

The bees and hummingbirds love this one. I was watching the fat, furry bumblebees hover around the andromeda while I talked to Dad for his birthday (April 2), when a hummingbird zoomed up for a taste. My first hummingbird sighting of the season.

Andromeda is also called Lily of the Valley Shrub, Japanese Pieris, and probably a few other common names I haven't come across. The tags at the local plant store called it Andromeda, so that's what I'll call it.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth
17. Camellia
18. Little Sweet Betsy
19. Tulip
20. Andromeda

Tiptoe through the Tulips

The pink tulips have been around for a week or so, but I didn't know what they were. The pointed tips threw me off, because I've only seen tulips from the florist, and they usually have rounded tips. When the white one popped out yesterday, I realized that the pink ones must be tulips as well, because they have the same leaves. There are about 150 species of tulip.



Were these supposed to be tulips? I don't know, but they must have been yummy.

And here are the tulips opened up:





That was another thing I didn't know about tulips, that they open during the day and close in the evening. When I took the open pictures, I was disappointed that I hadn't gotten a picture of them looking tulipy. But, a few hours later, they had closed up. Audrey was with me when I took the closed pictures, and she asked, "Now can I pick them?" So she picked the white one, and we put it on the dining room table in one of the little blue bottles from Chuck and Nancy's wedding.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth
17. Camellia
18. Little Sweet Betsy
19. Tulip

Little Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum)

Scott and I went for a walk in the Coker Arboretum while the kids were in Sunday school, and I found out the name of this plant that's blooming in my backyard. Today the arboretum was full of people with cameras. Spring is that beautiful.

I couldn't find any interesting information about Little sweet betsy on the internet, except for one person who posted a photo of it on Flickr, and described the smell as "between green apple and new car plastic." I'll let you know after I smell it for myself.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth
17. Camellia
18. Little Sweet Betsy

Camellia (C. japonica)

Camellia is one of the plants I already knew before moving here, because Papa had a beautiful camellia bush in his yard. I don't think I would recognize it just by its leaves, though. Some of the camellias here bloomed in the fall, and they're blooming again now. There are about 100-250 species of camellias, including the tea plant (C. sinensis). Most camellias grown for their flowers are hybrids or cultivars of Japanese camellia.


1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth
17. Camellia

Hyacinth (hyacinthus orientalis)

I'm pretty sure this is a hyacinth. There are more and more plants in the yard deciding it's spring. One of the trees (I don't know its name yet) has real leaves, not just buds. The redbuds up the hill are really blooming, but ours are just budding so far. The azalea under the deck has a few flowers. There's a circle of grass in the front yard. From a distance the trees still look bare, but looking closer will reveal tiny leaves or buds, and even flowers.

Here's my list now:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth

Daffodil (Narcissus)

I didn't know that the daffodil was a narcissus. Mary and I read the story of Narcissus earlier this winter when she was working on the Mythology Try-It for Brownies. This picture is of the first daffodils to bloom in our yard. I took this picture on February 20. Spring had already sprung higher up in the neighborhood, but it took a while for it to get downhill into the bowl where our house is. These daffodils are at the highest point of our yard near the driveway. Now, two weeks later, we have a crowd, a host of golden daffodils down in our garden.





So here's my plant list:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil

Crocus: First sign of spring

It's still cold here, but we had a nice day last week, and the weather page said it's supposed to be nice this weekend. We've got lots of green shoots sticking up all over the yard, but this is the first one that bloomed. This photo was taken last week. Now there are more of these yellow flowers.

UPDATE:
Mom identified this as a crocus, and I found a picture of one on Wikipedia that looks just like the one in my yard. The genus name is Crocus, and there are lots of species, hybrids, and cultivars. The name crocus comes from Greek, and means saffron or saffron yellow. It also refers to egg yolks of the same color. The leaves look like pine needles. The flowers will be cup-shaped when they open all the way. It's been a while since I've added a plant to my 100 Species Challenge list. As more things start blooming, I'll have more to add. There have been buds on the dogwood trees (identified by Maggie's parents) since the fall, and I know which trees in my yard are redbuds, but I won't post pictures and add them to my list until they bloom.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus

Japanese Stilt Grass (Microstegium vimineum)

The goat lady told me what this was called. It was introduced to the United States around 1919 as packing material for porcelain and escaped and flourished. It's considered very invasive. Fortunately, it's shallow-rooted, so it's easy to pull up. I know because I pulled bags and bags of it out of my garden. Maybe I should just hire the goats to come eat the rest of it. They think it's yummy.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass

Fall-blooming azalea (rhododendron sp.)

I never knew azaleas bloomed in the fall. I've only seen them bloom in the spring. But lately I've been seeing fall-blooming azaleas for sale in nurseries, and lo and behold, I've got some fall-blooming azaleas in my yard! I already recognized the azaleas when we moved here, but I figured I'd wait until spring to put them in my 100 Species list so I could take pictures of them when they were blooming. But here they are now! I don't know which species they are. There are thousands of species and named varieties.

According to Wikipedia, a traditional alcoholic beverage is made from azaleas in Korea, and azaleas are the most common toxic plant that dogs ingest. Useful to know.

1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea

My herb garden

The gardening calendar in the newspaper said fall is a good time to plant perennials, so I've planted a few perennial herbs. Scott and I made a pumpkin soup last week and used some of the oregano and rosemary, along with Mary's lemony thyme, and it smelled and tasted wonderful.

Sage (salvia officinalis)
Audrey and I just planted this one today.



Greek oregano (origanum vulgare hirtum)
This is the most flavorful oregano around, according to this website. It really does have a strong, delicious smell.



Rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis)
The garden stores sell lots of varieties of rosemary, including some topiaries. Here's a picture of mine.



I'm up to eleven:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary

Blue Anise Sage (salvia guaranitica)

I knew this was some kind of salvia, but I couldn't add it to my list until I knew its name. I've seen the red pineapple sage before, so I recognized the spade-shaped leaves and tubular flowers. Butterflies and bumblebees really like it. The orange jewelweed is fading now, but when it sprouted, it was mixed in with the blue anise sage, and I would see a hummingbird visiting nearly every time I went outside.

Here's my list so far:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage

Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

This plant started sprouting up all over the yard last month, especially along the creek. I figured it must be some kind of weed, but the hummingbirds like it, so it's a good weed. Restoration Place, another blogger who's doing the 100 Species Challenge, had it in her list. So, now that I know what it is, I can list it as one of my 100 species!

I'm up to seven:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed

Fireworks Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks')

When I was out shopping for a big bag of vermiculite for my square foot garden, one of the garden centers had a plant that looks just like the one that recently started blooming in my yard. I borrowed a pen from one of the employees so I could write down its name. Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' or Fireworks Goldenrod. I asked the lady if goldenrod was what so many people were allergic to, and she said, "Goldenrod gets a bad rap. It's ragweed that causes most of the problems." She told me that bees and butterflies use goldenrod as a nectar source, and birds like the seeds. Some people consider it a weed, but it's a good kind of weed.

Now I have six:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod

Great Laurel

Great laurel (rhododendron maximum) is a large shrub or small tree. It's related to the azalea, which I knew by sight and spelling from Central Florida. This is the first time I've had to spell rhododendron, and I had to check it three times against the photo of the name tag I took at the NC Botanical Garden.

You've gotta figure something with "maximum" in its name is going to grow too big to be planted in front of a window, but that's where I first saw this plant. We have them on both sides of the front door. I was going to trim them back, but it looked like they were starting to bud, so I left them alone. The USDA website says it blooms in the spring, so I'll have to wait a while to see what it does before trimming. I took this picture in the mountain habitat section of the NC Botanical Garden.

That makes five.
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel

Lamb's Ear

Here's a fun plant for the 100 Species Challenge.
4. Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina)
Lamb's Ear is a low plant used in borders. Its silvery leaves are shaped like real lamb's ears, and are velvety soft and fuzzy. We don't have lamb's ears in our yard, but there are some in the learning garden area of the community center, and in Maggie's yard, and at the Botanical Garden (where I took a picture of their name tag), and a lot of places around here. The name Stachys is from a Greek word meaning an ear of grain. This is a plant that's easy to identify. Audrey knows this one by name (and by touch!)

My list so far:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear

Poison Ivy, Virginia Creeper, wild blackberries

Here's my first entry for the 100 Species Challenge:




1. Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), a good one to be able to identify. It's trickier than you might think. This site shows pictures of poison ivy in all seasons, and in its most common and some uncommon forms. These pictures show creeping poison ivy and climbing poison ivy in my yard. We've got some climbing poison ivy with big, fat, hairy vines. One of the neighbors called it "Old Man's Beard."

What I knew: Leaves of three, let it be.
What I learned: It looks a lot like Virginia Creeper, except Virginia Creeper has five leaves. It looks a lot like wild blackberries, except wild blackberries have thorns and serrated edges. The berries of poison ivy are a good food source for birds.

2. Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)



We had this in our yard in Florida. It climbed up palm trees, fences, and the Norfolk Island Pine. It died back in the winter, even in South Florida. I had to keep cutting it out of the Norfolk Island Pine so it wouldn't kill the tree and topple it. The gardener I talked to at the North Carolina Botanical Garden didn't seem to think Virginia Creeper was a problem plant. There's plenty of it in our yard here, too.

3. Wild Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)



We had wild blackberries growing across the street when I was a kid. Mom would dig all our winter clothes out of the closet so we wouldn't get scratched by the brambles, and we'd go out to pick berries. We would eat bowls of blackberries with milk and sugar, and Mom would make blackberry jelly. When I grew up and started doing my own grocery shopping, I was shocked at how much blackberries cost for just a little, tiny container. And we used to get all we could eat, free.

There are some big blackberry canes in our yard here, and little sprouts popping up everywhere. I've only picked one tiny berry, though. I think most of the brambles are in too much shade to really flower and fruit well. Or maybe we can blame it on last summer's drought, or the fact that all the bees are disappearing. Maybe I can encourage some of the canes that are in sunnier areas. The state of North Carolina would probably rather I didn't though. We're one of several states that considers blackberries to be noxious weeds. Weeds or not, some states have wild blackberry festivals. If I get a decent crop of blackberries in my yard, I'll have my own festival, and invite all my friends over for berries.

100 Species Challenge

I saw this on a blog I visit occasionally. The idea is to get to know 100 plant species in your immediate area. There are a lot of plants in our yard that I only know as "flowers" and "trees". Blogging about them regularly will give me a little kick in the pants to get to know them better. Here are the official rules.

The 100-Species Challenge

1. Participants should include a copy of these rules and a link to this entry in their initial blog post about the challenge. I will make a sidebar list of anyone who notifies me that they are participating in the Challenge.

2. Participants should keep a list of all plant species they can name, either by common or scientific name, that are living within walking distance of the participant's home. The list should be numbered, and should appear in every blog entry about the challenge, or in a sidebar.

3. Participants are encouraged to give detailed information about the plants they can name in the first post in which that plant appears. My format will be as follows: the numbered list, with plants making their first appearance on the list in bold; each plant making its first appearance will then have a photograph taken by me, where possible, a list of information I already knew about the plant, and a list of information I learned subsequent to starting this challenge, and a list of information I'd like to know. (See below for an example.) This format is not obligatory, however, and participants can adapt this portion of the challenge to their needs and desires.

4. Participants are encouraged to make it possible for visitors to their blog to find easily all 100-Species-Challenge blog posts. This can be done either by tagging these posts, by ending every post on the challenge with a link to your previous post on the challenge, or by some method which surpasses my technological ability and creativity.

5. Participants may post pictures of plants they are unable to identify, or are unable to identify with precision. They should not include these plants in the numbered list until they are able to identify it with relative precision. Each participant shall determine the level of precision that is acceptable to her; however, being able to distinguish between plants that have different common names should be a bare minimum.

6. Different varieties of the same species shall not count as different entries (e.g., Celebrity Tomato and Roma Tomato should not be separate entries); however, different species which share a common name be separate if the participant is able to distinguish between them (e.g., camillia japonica and camillia sassanqua if the participant can distinguish the two--"camillia" if not).

7. Participants may take as long as they like to complete the challenge. You can make it as quick or as detailed a project as you like. I'm planning to blog a minimum of two plants per week, complete with pictures and descriptions as below, which could take me up to a year. But you can do it in whatever level of detail you like.