Match up the white rock on the path and the small headless tree on the right side and then the left side of the pictures and this is the other half of the slope that is below the road, the cabin and the future house. At the bottom of this hill is a stream. Almost all of the trees on this hill are the dying Hemlocks. You can see they are not very generous about letting much grow beneath them.
For now I have to borrow a lot of flowers from the resident gardeners for Bloom Day. There are several large patches of these Rudbeckia hirta scattered across the mountaintop garden.
At the edge of the wild forest this White Wood Aster, Eurybia divaricata is beginning to put on a show.
The Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica (I think we need to get the County Clerk to investigate this name) has the first early birds coming in to bloom. These plants are scattered every where.
I found this at the bottom of my back hill across the stream on what may or may not be my land when we do a survey and draw new property lines. It straddles the line maybe. This is the more rare pink form of Turtlehead, Chelone cuthbertii. I did find another one definitely on my side. They look like they would root from cuttings very easily.
The deep deep purple of Iron Weed, Veronia noveboracensis.
And then there is this, Ambrosia trifida, Giant Ragweed. I discovered this a few days ago in my septic drain field area and wondered what it could be, what the blooms were going to be like. Then I noticed the suspicious resemblance of the bloom stalk to the regular Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia that is starting to flower. Oh crap!
Last week I had a major sneezing, runny nose and stuffy head attack. It has managed to linger mildly all week. I have never been prone to allergies to any great extent. My body must be completely confused by all these strange new pollens and bugs and things that float through the air on the wind.
For a complete roundup of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
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6 comments:
Your flowers this Bloom Day are so different from your Hawaiian days. More delicate. Less in-your-face than the tropical flowers. Are you liking them as well?
So, that's what ragweed looks like, huh? I've seen electron micrographs of ragweed pollen--nasty looking stuff.
The Ironweed is pretty cool, Christopher - wonder if that one would grow in Austin? I had wood aster, Rudbeckia and Chelone back in Illinois but never Ironweed.
When we moved to TX from IL I already had grass allergies so I was set up for more. That ragweed looks wicked. Rather than tracking down the medicinal uses of Lobelia, I'd like to hear Hank's explanation of why Linnaeus would name this plant Ambrosia!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Fortunately, I'm not terribly bothered by allergies, but that ragweed does look wicked. I like the wood aster, and since Annie said she grew it in Illinois, it would be hardy here. Another plant to add to my list to check out.
Thanks for participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
You've made the ragweed look like an exotic tropical! Are you missing the ginger and heliconias?
I think I have been too busy learning all these new flowers and being fascinated by this orderly bloom succession to be comparing them to all the big tropicals back in Hawaii. It will certainly take more of a large group of a particular plant to have the same kind of impact. The land here almost demands large swaths of one to a few plant species to even convey the sense of "Garden" and to separate it from the forest.
It is going to be an interesting life up here.
I wonder about the Ambrosia for Ragweed too. What's up with that? The USDA site shows Ironweed growing a little bit into North Florida, but not in Texas. Dave's has it listed to zone 9. It might be worth a try. It sure is purple!
I sure hope I don't have allergies.
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