April Flowers

First time I noticed this shrub... Seems to be a viburnum rufidulum.

The Helianthemums are blooming... Last year, I was calling these Helianthemum Carolinium. Now... Ima call them Helianthemum georgianum.

The buckeye shrubs are looking good.

The columbine are spectacular! I'm working on new beds inside the wire for the hybrids, and the Canadian columbines are fixing to get moved into the yard.

Hawthorn (above) and mock orange (below).

Last year the voles got my seeds as quickly as I could plant them... this year... I thought I might get the seeds to come up... These few containers worked so well that I planted 4 dozen more... only to see the birds eat all the sprouting seeds...

Spring 2014

The eastern columbine are in full glory... Spotted a hummingbird visiting, but didn't have a camera handy... really miss the camera that lived in my pocket, it recently died :(

Saw a big wild turkey walking through my yard in the rain yesterday... didn't have a camera handy for that either.... What do you do in such a situation...

Torn between wanting a photo, and wishing critter was in the oven... What's a good way to trap a wild turkey?

More reds... the coral honeysuckle is eluding my attempts to get a decent photo.

Virginia bluebells

The evening primrose is doing so well that I pulled up several plants to eat... I was disappointed... tasted a bit strong to me... I prefer the winter harvested ones... A friend liked them fine. 

Here's what's left...After eating them for dinner.

Here's the wisteria next door... Nasty invasive stuff!

Spotted this hackberry (Celtis laevigata) on the property line... while I was shooting the wisteria... has to be the nicest one I've ever seen!

Hackberry is an important wildlife tree... Host plant for a number of butterflies as well as providing fruit for the birds...

Lyre-leaf sage... Pretty, but too successful for the garden... seems like a dynamite turf alternative... I've been pulling  it from the garden... while encouraging it in the yard.

The cat catches voles using the same moves as the foxes on the nature channel... Unfortunately she doesn't immediately consume them like the fox... I feed her too much... there'd be less torture if she was hungry...

Emerging asclepias tuberosa.

Monarda punctata seedlings

eutrochium breaking dormancy

Flat woods plum (Prunus umbellata)

Read a post by Ginny Stibolt recently who complained about her inability to purchase these...
I was kind of surprised, as these produce inedible fruit... tiny bitter plums... Maybe I could stew them?

Hellebore

I usually stop photographing the hellebores just as soon as there is anything else in bloom.

This doesn't mean that the hellebore have stopped blooming, or are less pretty...

As can be seen by this shot... a lot of flowers on a single plant make a nice show...

The pink & purples aren't quite as showy as the white, en masse...  I still prefer the colours in the winter... when nothing else is blooming.

Doubles!

Even the cat is impressed...

And because I can't stop with just hellebore... here's redbud blooms with carolina jessamine.

Vines in the tree isn't uniformly bad...

confederate violet

Spring Bloom

bloodroot

epimedium

Carolina Jessamine

Chenopodium Giganteum

Poncirus trifoliata

Peach tree

fragrant sumac

Mockingbird

cat

Gardening Challenges and Successes

It seems like the more work I do to improve the soil, the worse the rodents get... Stupid voles are having a population spike in spite of anything the cats can do... and they do plenty...

Looking for prey?

Actually... Mom caught this one...

They took turns questioning the prisoner... before eventually eating the evidence...

Got some taters up... trying to out-wit the voles by planting this patch next to the house in the foundation planting... Where the cats poop... 

Poppies are up...

Magenta spreen (chenopodium giganteum) seedlings... Gotta 'preciate food that self-sows...

Returning verbesina virginica ... Yall remember the frostflowers

Peaking Hellebores
And camellias

Spreading Mountain mint (pycnanthemum spp.)

I'm a real fan of this stuff...  it spreads very well, and is a valuable resource to the native pollinators...

 as seen on this video

This winter I found that It worked beautifully to clear my lungs when I had that bug that went around... I googled expectorant herbs and then went out and harvested the pitiful offering of leaves... This year... Ima dry some ahead of time...