As promised, here are photos from a walk along Water Road to see the Mountain Laurel. I was sure to have freshly charged batteries in the camera, parked the min van and started discovering lots of treasures.
Here is one of the blooming Mountain Laurel plants along the road. I was surprised to find that these plants must have been here for many years, even before the road was widened to two lanes. When I found the bases of the plants, there were shoots coming from knurly, cut off stubs. The plants had been cut off during the road work and re-grew to bloom again. It is amazing how tenacious some plants can be.
Some wintergreen berries on tiny plants growing on moss covered rocks. Something I wouldn't have seen without really looking.
Now I have another mystery to solve…. This is a plant with tiny white flowers that I am not familiar with. There are a number of these plants along the road on the high side.
This is the other side of the road- there is a steep drop-off. The plants growing close to the road were covered with dust from traffic on the gravel. A bit of a spooky road during winter when icy.
Here is a view looking down the road, with steep banks going up on one side and going down on the other. It is a beautiful road to travel, almost covered over by tree branches in some spots and distant view across the valley in others. When the trees are bare in winter, you can even catch a glimpse or two of the Susquehanna river. A beautiful area to live for sure.
Back home, I kept snapping photos. Here is a plant I had to bring all the way back from GA. I love the color and shape of the flowers of Plumbago. When we owned the greenhouses, we raised these from seed. They are a late summer blooming annual in PA, but hardy in many areas of the South. I love the florets for sunprinting. This was the last one available at the garden center I found it at, now at the center of a planter for easy plucking.
A couple plants that got planted before we left for our trip. Pink Verbena and airy Euphorbia.
My coral Peony flowers opened up! I love the color! They are quite bright and much different from any other I have seen. They only have a double row of petals, so hold up nicely in rain.
This Peony plant was supposed to be a yellow tree Peony that turned out to be a bright pink fairly single regular one. It has been beautiful for years, but got moved today. You can see the evergreen branches in the background of a Balsam Fir that was a little Christmas tree planted many years ago. It has now almost covered the whole plant, so I cut the flowers, dug it up and planted five chunks in various locations. It is probably the worst time to move a Peony, but it was in a really hostile location.
This Goldflame Spirea is so beautiful when the leaves are unfurling in the Spring. They start out hot pink and change to bright gold, then deeper green as the summer progresses. It will also bloom with pale pink flowers.
This little hardy Geranium is a very hardy little plant. I love the lacy foliage and delicate flowers for my sunprinting. I hope the weather will begin to cooperate so I can get my outdoor studio tent set up soon.
My blue Siberian Iris have been seeding themselves all over. This is one of the babies that is a very deep color. The original plant was a lighter shade of blue purple. I love these Iris and wish the flowers lasted longer.
This is tha garden shown in the previous post after I got the grass mowed. It looks much neater, but still needs weeds removed. Three clumps of the blue Iris are in this bed.
Right outside my front door are these flowers that are beginning to bloom. The white Campanula flowers are great to use as cut flowers.
The poor baby plants that got water but no fertilizer while we were away. After getting a drink of some liwuid fertilizer, they are starting toshow a bit more green color. The tomatoes and squash should recover. The plants in the pots look much better, after having their dose of long time release fertilizer- What a difference!
This is my next major project….. The front of my huge Maple tree garden has been neglected for too long. Under the berry brambles is a water garden that has overgrown with water plants so the water barely shows. I used this area for veggie plants year before last, nothing last year. I did start to remove some old brambles, but didn't take the time to get a long sleeved shirt. Not a good idea- lots of scratches…. Always wear long sleeves when battling brambles. I am going to leave some of the black raspberry plants that are loaded with fat little green berries, until after I can pick them.
I plan to try doing a little each day in the gardens. It is hard not to over-do for me. I get started and keep going until I can't stand the pain or nearly pass out…. not recommended…. Hopefully by the time my veggie plants regain health, this area will be ready for them.
My sewing studio is also calling…. My flower photos are still asking to be part of my quilts. It is hard to figure out how to get done all that needs to be done.
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Time to get off to class again!
