Spring Natives Shine


One of my favorite things about spring are all the native plants that bloom in March, April and May. They are the stars of my woodland garden during these months.

Wood poppies are one of the showiest natives. They bloom from March through May and will occasionally bloom during the summer months if the soil is kept moist.


The blooms and new leaves are covered with soft hair.




The columbine are beginning to bloom just in time for the first hummingbirds to visit. The hummers usually arrive in late March so I am expecting them any day now.


The red and yellow, tubular blooms are just what the hummers look for in a flower.


The flowers tend to dance in the warm spring breezes.


More trillium are appearing everyday.


These toadshade trillium are just beginning to put out their blooms.


The trillium blooms have a (foul) scent that attracts flies. I usually see them covered with flies in the early evening hours. Toads are known to sit under these plants and catch the flies, hence the name toadshade trillium.


Even this robber fly is getting in on the action.


A new edition to my garden is Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy' sometimes known as a bottle brush because the white blooms look like bottle brushes. They smell a little like licorice.


A native to the southeast United States and a relative to witch hazel it grows at the edge of my woodland garden where it gets partial sun.


In April I will do a post about the native azaleas that populate my woodland garden. Several are close to bursting into to bloom.

Comments

  1. My favorite is the closeup of the columbine. What a gorgeous flower! Love natives!

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  2. I cannot get over all the natives...of course you are farther South...my bloodroot is starting to break ground...usually the first to bloom

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    1. How luck you are Donna to have bloodroot growing in your garden! It is such a pretty bloom and definitely the first sign of spring!

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  3. I love poppies, especially the native ones found in fields. I have grown the cultivated ones, but gave them away when I redesigned. I should look to plant poppy seeds some year. The little yellow ones are quite pretty.

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  4. I have Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy' too, think you mentioned that. Those flies on the Trillium are amazing. Certainly attracts them.
    Thanks for the 'Ice King' info. Since the daff in question came in an assortment bag.

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  5. Love the blue tint to Fotergilla leaves. A true multifaceted shrub,spring blooms, unique summer foliage, and beautiful fall colors.

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  6. I am in awe of those woodland poppies...so interesting and beautiful! I have not seen those in my woodland. The columbine has leaves, so with these warm temps I suspect blooms soon. Great photos of beauty!

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  7. I had no idea how trillium got the common name. Thanks for the information, and that picture of it filled with flies! Never having grown this, I had no idea it had a foul scent to attract these types of pollinators!

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  8. Karin,

    Enjoyed the poppy photos, must look for ours in the garden, might not have survived out hot dry summer. Does your columbines seem not as exciting as years past, I just can't get a good photos of ours.

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    1. The dry hot summer is hard on the poppies. I give them extra water in the summer otherwise I don't know that they would survive. The columbine I showed are pretty established and like growing in the decaying stump. In fact they stayed green all winter. Some of my others are just now coming up.

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  9. Your poppies are so pretty. I imagine they add nice pops of sunshine in your woodland garden. Don't you just love the columbine...they always herald spring here for me. I'm hoping there are still some on the stems in the morning. They are forecasting heavy rain for tonight.

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    1. Cat, I hope you fared well through the heavy rains and storms. Columbine is one of those plants I can never have enough of in my garden. Mine have started to reseed themselves and they pop up in the most unusual places.

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  10. hi karin, one of my very favorite flowers is the native columbine, but i can't seem to keep it for more than a year at a time here! something always eats it to the ground...deer, i think. i'm about to give up on having it. your natives are beautiful. that fly-covered trillium photo is really nice.

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  11. Those poppies are unusual looking (to me anyway!). They remind me of a sundrop. The native columbine are wonderful. I've seen hummingbirds visit these before and it's an amazing sight.

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  12. Now I know what my mystery plant is!!! It's a wood poppy! I had one show up this spring and didn't know what is was. It hasn't bloomed yet. LOVE your pix of the chipmunk. So cute!!

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  13. I love the 4th picture of the Celandine Poppy, so enchanting!

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  14. It is indeed wonderful to incorporate lanterns in the garden. If they are of the functional kind, the lanterns can make the outdoor area more enhanced. In addition, it can also be beautiful garden accents.

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One of my favorite things about blogging is the conversation with readers. Leave a comment and let's get talking. ~Karin

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