Native things blooming in a Tennessee yard - 2014

We annually have a pair of red-tailed hawks that nest less than 100 yards from our house. Until the trees leaf out their nesting activity is clearly visible as we view dozens of birds feeding at various stations on our deck. Oddly enough, the two parties seem oblivious to each other. Other times the birds on our deck suddenly disappear or "freeze" when no predator is apparent to us.

The red tail hawk in my neighborhood there are cats disappearing. I also noticed the wolf half of my rott let the bird know he best stay airborne...Hows the ice crystal flowers doin eastern coasts this morn? Brrrr. When I see the wild turkeys huddled in the trees at the edge of yhe interstates I think about the corn and oats I didnt bring out. The pheasants of Iowa I also watch huddled in the snow and wonder where they find enough to eat.

I've observed that same "freeze" behavior as well, greenthumb. And then there are the times they make a terribly huge ruckus and dive bomb a predator when nests are threatened.

I know what you mean, kittriana. It seems there would be nothing for them to eat. I worry about them and the other creatures, great and small.

All the snow and ice went south of us. It may have gotten up to the southern counties of TN but nothing here. We've only had a couple of snows that even made the ground white but none that covered everything. Maybe a half inch or so. We've had some ice but not too bad. Not enough to make me stay in and not drive - except for the black ice. Hate that. :(

I leave my garden cleanup until spring so the birds have had the seeds, but now I think they are bare. The goldfinches, cardinal, woodpeckers and jays have been very busy in the big spruce tree out back. At least they aren't competing for the same things as the squirrels. For some reason, that always reminds me of the flying monkeys from the Wizard Of Oz.

What kind of spruce tree is it, Cville? I'm in the market for a conifer that will feed the birds, and we're in the same zone.

Thanks for the links; I enjoyed reading them!

You're welcome, Muddy. It's a Norway Spruce. They do get large. It was here when we bought the property and the birds seem to love it a lot. It's all provided hours of entertainment! I've added a Colorado Blue Spruce. It's small and I'll have to see how it fares here. They grow about a foot a year.

http://www.clayandlimestone.com/

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/conservation_action_release.html

Good information. Many people would naively buy mass produced monarchs, the cheaper the better. Obviously they could come from someone depleting their natural population.

Panicums

http://www.clayandlimestone.com/2014/03/a-practically-perfect-panicum.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clayandlimestone%2FuNwv+%28clay+and+limestone%29

I'm happy to see by foliage that my Anemone virginiana has survived.

That's good! I'm anxious to see what has made it through the extremely (for us) cold winter. I can see that some things haven't or are suffering from leaf or tip burn. Ugh. Well, that's Mother Nature for you. A fickle gal sometimes.

More than fickle, I told my DH I think she has serious PMS this winter

One of my rhodendrons, which was in the direct path of the wicked North Wind, looks half dead. That is, the leaves on one half look like they're not going to make it, but those on the very slightly more sheltered half look normal. If we have the same brutal cold next year I'll try to remember to wrap burlap around it or just let it get buried in snow, which is perhaps part of the reason one half fared better.

If it is a white blooming Iris cristata, Crested Iris, it is native to the Southeast.

Iris cristata is the plant pictured in the first entry. :) Yes, a native.

thanks for explaining that, I was a bit puzzled per Rick's post.
I wish I knew where here I could look for spring beauties and trout lily / dogtooth violets. I'm out of touch, don't even know when to look. I used to find them when I was a kid playing in the woods.

Are you talking about Claytonia (spring beauty)? I have been wanting to find some here too but haven't so far. :/

yes Claytonia. I used to have a job with a lot of local driving. I hadn't seen Claytonia in ages, and came upon a whole bank of them in bloom. Ahhh.
Any guess when you'd expect to see them?

Sally, checking my various photo's dates, you should be able to find Spring Beauties locally in the wooded stream valley of Patapsaco Valley State Park in early to mid-April.

Usually late this month or early April, but it has been so unusually cold this winter that I'm wondering.

These Iris cristata in a pot are sprouting - very tough little things. (And the ubiquitous moss.)

Thanks greenthumb; on further reflection, I can find them in a section of Patapsco that we visit less often, which is less invaded by invasives than some other parts. I still had no idea when, without both you helping..

Sally, you need to find the book "Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area", written by Cristol Fleming, Marion Blois Lobstein and Barbara Tufty. You can look up a specific flower in the index to find out when and where you can find them in bloom near you. For example, it says that spring beauties bloom in the Avalon-Orange Grove Area of Patapsco in mid-April, and trout-lilies (and spring beauties) bloom in Piscataway Park in April.

There are lots of trout-lilies in the woods near me, but I didn't catch them in bloom last year. Either the blooms came and went in less than a week, or deer ate all of the buds.

Thanks for the book recommendation- who knew such thing was out there? I go to Orange Grove/ Avalon quite often; many parts of it are highly invaded so you have to think where to best look, at least this tells you when.

It also has a blooming date calendar that's helpful not only for finding them, but also in identifying them by factoring in bloom time.

Sally, are you here? :)

Right, dog's-tooth violets are not really violets. They are Erythroniums.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-tooth_violets

Nice to know I was missed!
I am trying to train myself to say Trout Lily instead of dogtooth violet LOL.

I love those gardening shoes, citybusgardener. Thanks for posting. Stay tuned. :)

Sally, of course you're missed. :)

http://awaytogarden.com/test-soil-texture-try-new-peas-beans-ira-wallace/

Sometimes I have to limit my internet time for my own good!

what a fun informative piece!
I'm getting ready to submit an article about cream peas. (One of the southern peas) My sister turned me on to them. They taste so good. (Sorry they are not native LOL)

I get that. I love southern peas of all kinds. Looking forward to the article.

Hi Sally and Cville,

Sorry to pop in to the topic Tennessee Yard and ask about a violet that's not a violet, with seeds from China coming to me in Oregon. LOL
I did search the violet forum, but all I heard there was mostly crickets. ;)

Sally, you pulled the trigger here when you said Dog-tooth violet. I was just reading along being nosy, where I suppose I have no business being. But that's just how I am. :D

Cville, Thanks for the "Erythroniums". Now it comes back to me. I've seen native Dogs-tooth violets here when out hiking. So now I have more to add to my confusion. I've been reading so much about violets, then this side track, at this point it's all getting mixed up. A big blur.

The seller of the seeds I spoke of got right on it, and shipped them a few hours after I ordered. Makes complete sense when you think of the time zones. I was getting ready to go to bed, and he was starting his morning. So there's a little package of seeds in an envelope, in some huge bunch of envelopes, heading my way from China. Not much between there and here but a really big ocean, so I have no idea how long something like this takes, much less how to properly germinate, much less how hardy they may be. They are listed as native to a temperate climate, but that leaves lots of room for speculation. China, Japan, Mongolia...much different in high and low temps from my temperate rainforest I live in. Fun times.

The violet book and the true violet seeds I also ordered have been shipped too, so time will tell. I'll add a picture of that violet for you guys.
If once I get started, what do you think the odds are long quiet violet lovers would see a thread in the violet forum ? Or maybe you have a better idea where I should post. I've been reading enough this year, I've learned you guys are a 'trusted source'. This is a big place and easy to get lost.

Angel Tiger Eye is the name of this hardy violet BTW.

Pam, no problem. Come chat whenever you'd like. I love the Tiger Eye. I think I had it on my want list somewhere at one time. I may have some seeds in there.

I have a "wild violets" thread in the Violas and Violettas forum. Only one person posted to it, I think. Sigh! I will be waiting for the reports about your new seeds. Did you order them through eBay or somewhere else?

Hi Pam, make yourself at home.
I don't know much about violets. I only have a couple kinds here. But I'll be happy to help if I can. It's always fun to read about flowers
; ^)

Monarda bradburiana is peeping thru the ground. One of my Asarum gingers has tattered leaves left, the other got killed or eaten to bare ground. We are finally getting more sun and warmth here so I should see things showing up soon.

Chelidonium majus is very winter hardy- sadly that is the European wood poppy not the native one
:^/

I had to fight the slugs for my Asarum gingers last year. They weren't doing all that well anyway, so I moved them to a sunnier and drier spot. I haven't seen them yet this year, so they might not have made it.

I'm trying another native groundcover, Antennaria plantaginifolia (plantain-leaf pussytoes): http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/48266/
I planted some last fall and they stayed a healthy-looking green all winter long. Of course, I haven't seen how it'll like hot summers.

I have some gingers out there and I, too, will be surprised if they made it through the winter.

Our hot summers pose another problem all together, that's for sure. The Antennaria sounds interesting. I like the fact that it's drought-tolerant.

I have soem kind of antennaria, not sure which. But itt's spread to a large area and makes a tight mat all long a portion of my border edging, I like it.

Sally, Muddy, and Cville, anything with "canadensis" as its specific epithet can probably handle any winter in Maryland, Virginia or Tennessee. As miserable as we have been this season, its just a good frost compared to north of the border. None of our Asarum was showing as of yesterday, but I have no doubt that it will appear when (if) spring finally arrives. Our Hexastylis ginger is "evergreen" but looking pretty sad, mostly purple and brown. This time of year is so full of angst for gardeners, waiting for all their precious ones to come back from what we perceive as obliteration. :-)

thanks greenthumb!
Hexastylis - is that one shiny leafed? Terp shared an Asarum with me that turned out to be glossier and a tight clump, versus the more matte leaf and looser spread of the Asarum I got from Pinetrre Gardens.