Blackberry Lily

I bought this plant before the ankle incident and didn't get it planted out, so it sat in it's nursery pot for several years and managed to loose it's label.  I finally put it in the ground last fall.  It bloomed this summer and fortunately a number of people posted photos of it on the internet so it was easy to identify--blackberry lily, Iris domestica.  It formerly was in a genus of its own, but due to recent genetic work, it was moved to Iris.  I hope it will settle in and have more than one flowering stem next summer.

Tall Flowers

Great coneflower, Rudbeckia maxima, is native to the south.  These, planted next to the rain gauge, are 8 feet tall.  It is also called cabbage leaf coneflower in reference to it's large silvery-blue leaves.

Common or wooly mullien, Verbascum thapsus, is an European native, introduced and naturalized in the US for it's medicinal uses.  This one, growing near the coneflower, is almost as tall as the cone flower.  When the girls were small, we called it "fuzzy monster"  because it has very fuzzy  leaves.  I just found out that mullien is a very good plant for moths, both adults and larvae.  Some studies suggest that moths are better pollinators than butterflies.

The Last of the Daylilies

As July comes to a close, so does daylily season.  Not too many daylilies left around the house above Heck Creek after a year of totally no garden maintenance due to the ankle incident.

July

Red . . . 

Crocosmia

White . . .

Daucus

Blue . . . 

Plumbago

Seasonal decor at the house above Heck Creek.

Ninebark

 

Iris after the Rain

 

I snapped these photos of the purple iris this morning during a brief period of sunshine after a drippy night.  Iris is the Greek goddess of the rainbow, so these photos of irises seem apropos after the rain.  (Though it's raining again now.)

 

Their color is rather dark, but in the sunshine, so PURPLE.  💜

Their odor is delicate, but so delicious!

 

 

 

Hydrangea

It's been rainy and unseasonably cool here at the house above Heck Creek.  Yesterday's high was 64 degrees, and today's was 67.  

The oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) is blooming.  The panicles are so large and heavy (especially with the rain), they can't remain upright.

Winter Flowers

Amaryllis!

Botany note:  The plant family Amaryllidaceae contains 75 genera.  The plants commonly called surprise lily and naked ladies are in the genus Amaryllis.  The winter blooming bulbs we grow inside are actually in the genus Hippeastrum!

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A BRP Drive Part Two

We didn't stop at Mount Mitchell this trip, but continued on north.  After a bit the Parkway begins to descend, and at the lower elevation we saw more trees with leaves and more color.  

Golden beeches and fir snags

Every time we pass the Laurel Knob overlook, I like to stop and visit the table mountain pines.  

Table Mountain Pine, Pinus pungens

Table mountain pine is not one of the more common pines--this tree is only found in the southern Appalachains.

Pungens--the second part of its binomial scientific name--is Latin for sharp, and the table mountain pine is definitely prickly.  It has stiff, sharp-pointed needles in bundles of two.  Its cones have sharp, upward-curved prickles.  

If you look up from underneath, you can see that the cones and dead branches are held on the tree for many years.

There's also a dead table mountain pine at the overlook that adds interest to a panoramic photo in the afternoon shadows.

 Not far past the pines, we took highway 80 down towards Burnsville and then we made our way back to Madison county.

A BRP Drive Part One

We woke up to snow this morning and a predicted low of 14° F tonight, making me think I should post some autumn photos before winter really sets it.

A week or so ago,  the Pop and I went for a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We left in mid-afternoon and drove down the hill to Weaverville and over to the Parkway from there and headed north.  Sunshine, blue skies, fresh air, and just a bit of chill--a perfect autumn day.

First we stopped at the Craggy Gardens picnic area and took the trail up from there.   

 
At this elevation--over 5,000 feet--many of the trees had already lost their leaves.

Beeches were one of the few that hadn't.  Beeches can become quite large trees, but because they are more tolerant of shade than other trees, they're often found in the forest understory.

American Beech, Fagus grandifolia

Sunlight, blue skies, and golden beech leaves

Back down the trail and into the car, we next stopped at the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center.

Mountain Ash, Sorbus americana

Just below the visitor center, mountain ashes are growing.  Mountain ash is the North American version of the European rowan--a sacred tree of the British Isles.  This must have been a "super bloom" year for the mountain ash, as well as for flowers growing on the California hillsides, because there were brilliant red berries everywhere.  

In the winter cold, harsh winds blow up the valley shearing and shaping the trees, keeping them compact and twiggy.

Back to the car and onward through the tunnel. 

Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel

More tomorrow.

Roadside Flowers

As I walk down the driveway to get the mail, I see the first of the year's fleabane.  It's considered a weed, but I like the little white fringe around the egg-yolk yellow centers.

Common fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus

Across the road by the old barn is a field of ragwort or groundsel.  It seems quite plentiful this year.
  

Golden ragwort, Senecio aureus

At the mailbox I decide to walk east down Heck Creek Road toward the blacktop.  Scattered throughout the woods I see more ragwort and wild geranium.

Wild Geranium, Geranium maculatum

Also, scattered on the forest floor and beside the ditch, mud-spattered, were

violets. The purple of violets is one of my favorite colors.

Common blue violet, Viola sororia

Where the road curves a bit and is shadier and wetter, I find the diminutive dwarf crested iris and rue anemone growing side by side.

Rue anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides

Dwarf crested iris, Iris cristata

A beautiful Spring day.