Blog Action Bloom Day

It can begin with a simple flower that leads to a world of discovery. There is just something about them. The rainbow of colors is one of the big draws. Deeply embedded in our ancient brains, color attracts us and draws us nearer. It is an attraction that is older than our knowing.

A multitude of forms displayed, scents emitted and fruits produced continues the intrigue and mystery that a simple flower can induce. We want them close to us and a gardener is born. For the curious or the insatiable, once the door to the world of plants is opened it can be a journey of a thousand directions that never ends.

From a small little cabin on a North Carolina mountaintop let’s take such a journey to look closely at the environment around this tiny piece of the wondrous planet earth for Blog Action Day.














In one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet, the Southern Appalachia, where there is never it seems just one or a few of a plant genus, I had to give up on identifying the species of this Blue Aster for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or I would never have been able to finish this post on time. You would think a species this dominant at this time of year would be front and center and easy to spot in a number of books. Not.

Where just a few weeks ago was a solid white hillside of Ageratina altissima, White Snakeroot, there is now a carpet of blue.














Heading towards the forest along the gravel drive, the changing colors of autumn begin to accentuate the different species of trees that help make up this ecosystem. In their summer green they more easily blend into the image of a single unit. I have found four oak species here. There are at least three species of Maples and there are Magnolia, Cherry, Locust, Hemlock, Apple, Sassafras, Dogwood, Redbud, Yellow Poplar, Beech, Birch, Hickory and Elm. At least these, probably more, and these are just the tree species that can be found in a small parcel of land on a North Carolina mountaintop.














The native Rhododenron calendulaceum, Flame Azalea, with the unknown Blue Aster blooming at its feet, likes forest edges where it gets a touch more sun.

















It's Autumn leaves mimic the bright orange flowers of spring.














The unknown Blue Aster blooms along the forest trail as we head deeper into the forest.














Hidden beneath the canopy another world of shade loving plants carpets the forest floor.

Asarum canadense, Wild Ginger.














Heuchera, Mitella, Tiarella, I am not sure, but I am aiming for something in the Saxifragaceae family.














And of course there is something of similar growth habit and leaf shape in the same environment. Could it be Mitella diphylla or Heuchera villosa?














Still in the Saxifragaceae family, but preferring to grow directly on the rocks in the streams or moist seeps in the creases of the mountain's flanks is Saxifraga micranthidifolia, Mountain Lettuce.














As a natural physical crossing point between east and west and north and south these mountains have long been a repository of plant species as they have moved across the earth with changing climates. The low valleys and coves and mountain elevations create micro climates where plants can find safe haven at the extremes of their natural range. This is natures very own seed bank and storage place of germplasm.

Out on the forest edge again, the unknown Blue Aster blooms.














In the forest when something falls it just stays there and rots. Life is not wasteful and many species find ways to put this dead fall to use.

















Hepatica acutiloba, Liverwort, rests comfortably with another fungi.














Shining Clubmoss, Huperzia lucidula aka Lycopodium lucidulum.














I can wander through this forest in a thousand different directions and discover new colonies of plants found before. This Aplectrum hyemale, Putty Root, in the orchid family is now the third grouping of this species I have seen. It is only now in the fall that the leaves emerge from the ground. The scarce sunlight is rationed so that more species will survive.
















Your not going to find many Carex species in wildflower books so this will remain unidentified for now, but I am willing to bet it is a sedge not a grass and one that is growing in deep shade. The sedges were long ignored as garden worthy plants. Now gardeners are bringing them in from the horticultural back waters and giving them a place in the garden.
















As gardeners we have the opportunity and possibly a duty to help the planet right now maintain it's bio-diversity in the little piece of earth that we maintain. It is likely a natural inclination when taking this road of discovery started by the lure of a simple flower.

Here we have the lovely unknown Blue Aster along an upper path for Garden Blogger Bloom Day.















And a look up in the canopy as we head back home to a small cabin in the forest.














Where some fancy store bought Blue Asters are waiting to be planted to add to the diversity of life.