High Up

From atop Doggett mountain in Madison County, North Carolina.

That grassy bald peak in the center right is Max Patch. It isn't the only mountain top with amazing views.

It's always fun to go looking at land and houses with my realtor friend. She takes me places I would never get to on my own. Snooping at other people's houses is really kind of fun.

Closer to the ground spring is rising up. I had forgotten about this fully double Bloodroot, a gift from Kathy Purdy's rural New York garden that I received during last year's Asheville Fling. It was a nice surprise.

I remembered the Virginia Bluebell, Mertensia virginica she gave me and had been scanning the ground for a week or two waiting to see if it survived the relocation. Yes it did. Now let it be happy and multiply.

The existing, resident spring ephemeral wildflowers are also waking up. The Dutchman's Breeches, Dicentra cucullaria is spreading itself further into the garden becoming. My editing endeavors, or thug removal, seem to be having an effect. Ground is being made available for the more delicate inhabitants of the forest floor. 

The native Bloodroot and a good number of trilliums already live in the garden becoming though they are not as plentiful as they are in the forest on the other side of my driveway. Yet. I plan to move some over when they are finished blooming. The gardener can certainly hurry the process along.