April is the month of the Bearded Iris in North Carolina.
Most of mine are showing off right now.
Enjoy the show.
I will be doing a post on how to divide and care for bearded iris after July 4th. Check back then if you are interested.
Follow the Flower!
I planted this perennial last spring.
I love the deep red, crinkled flowers with yellow centers.
I also like its wiry, wild stems and the bloom buds
which look like tiny crowns just before they pop open.
This plant has exploded with color this April
with no special care from me.
When I find a plant that thrives without being needy,
I like to spread the word.
Blazing Sunset Chilean Avens/ Geum chiloense
also named Hallante Blazing Sunset is a keeper.
Find this FLOWER!
Tree roots are like sculpture.
I have been cleaning around my tree trunks for several weeks.
I use a digger, clippers and several sizes of bristle brushes.
I have cut off crossing roots that cut into the bark
and even removed some rocks surrounded by bark.
I felt like I was removing a thorn from a lion’s paw.
I could almost hear the trees sigh.
These lovely shapes were made by the tree.
I just enhanced them with my tools.
This is where I sit to hide. It’s like a tree throne.
Stay tuned for the magical transformation in the coming weeks.
Follow the sneaky FLOWER.
Two toads met in the quiet little pond.
They spawned in the cozy lily basket.
They left behind a slimy string of black eggs
These hatched into squiggly little tadpoles.
Most stay inside the basket where it is safe
The ones that swim out become snacks for the King of the Koi pond
Mama toad is unconcerned
She’s busy napping under my bag of potting soil.
Follow the FLOWER.
We had a row of bearded iris behind the vegetable garden.
They hadn’t bloomed in years.
They were crowded and full of weeds.
Nobody had time to tend them.
My sister and I were teenagers finding ourselves.
My mama was teaching junior high. Bless her.
My daddy was keeping the power on at work.
The iris never made it on the list of things to do.
Then Great Grandma Ida May came for a visit.
She disappeared from the house.
We looked out the back windows.
There she was, bent over those iris in her little cotton dress.
Her locket was swinging from her neck as she stooped and straightened up.
She spent hours weeding and cleaning around those iris.
Giving them room to grow.
It puzzled my adolescent self why this old woman felt the need to stand out there in the hot sun bent over those iris.
The next spring they bloomed like never before.
They bloomed again the next year, and the next.
Now I have iris in my own garden.
I guess when I’m old, Â my grandchildren will see me bent over them,
helping them to grow and bloom.
The iris I mean.
Follow the FLOWER.
A mutation has occurred in one of my phlox.
A tight, miniature version of the parent.
Perfect for my Fairy Garden.
FOLLOW the Phlox!
I found gold today.
I was at an undisclosed location looking for a black squirrel,
when I spied bog heaven on the shore of a lake.
I got my shoes all squishy getting these photos, but it was worth it.
How ironic to find Yellow Trumpets in Dizzy Gillespie’s hometown.
The genus name is Sarracenia.  I don’t know whether it’s the  flava or alata species. Â
They are pitcher plants.  They trap insects in the pitcher and dissolve them as a supplemental source of nitrogen not available in the soil.
This town has been one thrill after another.
I will be sad to leave, Â but my family, Â plants and bunnies need me.
Follow the FLOWER.
These fascinating little epiphytes grow on the barks of trees. They seem to prefer horizontal limbs.
When they are dry they curl up and look almost dead.
When it rains they soak up the water from the bark and..
Viola. Alive again.
Its scientific name is Pleopeltis polypodioides.
The photo below was taken on Monday.
Then again in the rain on Tuesday.
By Wednesday it looked alive again.
Viva la Fern!
floweralley 