Writing a post about springtime blooms this week carries with it a bittersweet poignancy. We look to the leafing of the trees, to the flowering of the spring plants, and especially to the appearance of ephemerals that flourish for a brief beautiful time before retreating again into the earth, to assure us that nature goes …
I just returned to the lake after being away for two weeks and found a number of faithful signs of spring waiting for me. Several of those plants and progress on a new garden bed are my subjects for this Saturday. Readers can follow the developments in other gardens around the globe by visiting the …
It has been raining off and on almost all week in Alabama. Throughout the state and the Southeast Wednesday and Thursday, there was destruction and death caused by strong thunderstorms, winds, and tornadoes. Personally, I was spared and am thankful for that. Most of my six offerings this week are related to that rain, though. …
Alabama has entered a predicated climate pattern of wet winters and springs, and dry late summers. Temperatures are also fluctuating widely. Whether due to those factors or Nature's whimsy, there has been little progress in flowering since my last post two weeks ago. Before I get to what I do have to share, though, I'll …
My six plants for today include some purple blooms, some fuzzy seeds, and discouraging visual evidence of our current Alabama drought and unseasonably high temperatures. But before the disheartening image of a dehydrated and stressed hydrangea, let me remind others that they can see photos of gardens in other climates, in fact in other seasons, …
1. The record for this Saturday pretty much picks up where my post ended two weeks ago with Japanese Anemone--only now, the buds have turned to blooms. Today, they are living up to one of their common names, windflowers, as they sway quite gracefully on their very long stalks in a gentle breeze. The Anemone …
It has been a few weeks since I've published a Six on Saturday post, but I've been following several other global gardeners and the meme site initiated by The Propagator. I hope that some of my readers have done the same. I do have, though, six things to pass along for this next-to-last Saturday in …
I'm still enjoying some natives coming up where they want to both in the wooded area of the garden and in other open areas. One of those natives I had never seen before. I'll save that and a non-native until the end. I'll begin with a more familiar plant I have often cut to the …
Whether because of the generous rain this spring or the increase in sunlight due the loss of some trees over the past couple of years from drought, straight-line winds, and judicious thinning, I've enjoyed more wildflowers in the wooded lot than ever before--in number and variety. So, I still have some natives for this Saturday's …
1. This Saturday I have three blooms from the garden and three curiosities. I'll begin with the feature image, Rhododendron alabamense. This delicate deciduous native azalea, also know as the Alabama azalea, is small, about five feet tall. Its tubular flowers begin to appear before or along with the leaves, and they have a soft, …
