“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau
Golden Ragwort
Noxious weed or beautiful wildflower? This one appeared in a raised bed formerly used as a vegetable garden. Linked to Cee’s Flower of the Day
Facing Fears & Jumping Off Docks
Originally posted on Sweet Peach:
While recently at the lake (see my previous post, “Lake Life”), my 10 year old son, and his cousin of the same age, decided to try jumping from the second story of the dock. Don’t worry, the dock was designed for this, with a special gate opening up at the…
Sweetshrub
Always one of my favorites, the sweetshrub also is known as Carolina allspice, strawberry-bush, sweet bubby, sweet Betsy and spicebush. Linked to Cee’s Flower of the Day
Purple Formosa Azalea
Larger than most azaleas, the Purple Formosa has blooms that can be magenta, lavender-pink, or a deeper purple. Linked to Cee’s Flower of the Day
Pink Formosa azaleas and an Eastern Swallowtail butterfly
“The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly.” (Ponce Denis Ecouchard Lebrun) Linked to Cee’s Flower of the Day
White azaleas
“White… is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black… God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.” (Gilbert K. Chesterton) Linked to Cee’s Flower of the…
Mountain Witch Alder
The Mountain Witch Alder (Fothergilla major) is native to the woodlands here in the Southern Appalachians. This year the bottlebrush flowers appeared before most of the leaves emerged. Linked to Cee’s Flower of the Day
Azaleas in profusion
Azaleas are everywhere here, and they grow to enormous sizes and can be found in a myriad of colors. Most of the azaleas in my garden are in shades of pink or fuchsia and are in full bloom. I have one that has white blooms, but they are just beginning to open. I’ll have to…
Cherry blossoms
“What a strange thing!to be alivebeneath cherry blossoms.” (Kobayashi Issa) Linked to Cee’s Flower of the Day
Carolina Jessamine: Beautiful but deadly
Also known as Carolina Jasmine, the Carolina Jessamine vine has beautiful, sweetly scented yellow blooms and will flourish in a variety of conditions. However, all parts of the plant are poisonous to humans if ingested, and deer and rabbits will not eat it. The sap also may cause skin irritation. This beautiful vine can be…
