07 May 2012

the yarden, 2012 May 6th

  Leaflets three, let 'em be? This first pic is poison ivy, and I can't let it be. Every year I get into it, several rashes every summer. Mostly because I'm pulling it up where I don't want it growing :) ...and my gloves are not long enough, apparently.

These next two pics are virgin's bower - also a vine, similar to poison ivy, but it doesn't cause dermatitis in as many people. In some people, yes. It has a pretty white flower later in the year.

And honeysuckle. Not blooming yet, but it won't be long. See how it twists, even with nothing to twist around? Later this year I'll look for a stick to show you that honeysuckle "carved." It's pretty incredible what a delicate vine can do.

Now the early yellow and blue flowers are mostly done, and it's time for everything white to bloom. Fleabane, yes, it's a weed, but I think it's pretty. And maybe it really does "bane" the fleas. Haven't seen any yet, knock wood.

Blackberries are blooming, and so is the multiflora, what my father-in-law called "wild roses." They smell so good, I don't really care that they're considered a nuisance plant in Kentucky. They are welcome in my yarden.

And chamomille. Here's what it looks like before and after the blooms open. In Tennessee we called them "field daisies." You can repel mosquitoes by rubbing the yellow part of the flower on your skin.

And this - I don't know what it is - it just showed up one day, growing under the bigger holly tree. I let it grow, to see what it'd turn into, and I just call it "nice shrub." Then when it blooms it smells so good it's "yummy shrub." Is it boxwood?

The cats like the nice shrub too.

And foxglove. It took me a few tries to get this established but now it's spreading nicely.

4 comments:

Gin said...

Your unknown "shrub" looks to be privet, if I'm not mistaken. Love the foxgloves!

meowmom said...

Thanks, Gin! I google-imaged privet and it looks like you're right! It smells wonderful - wonder how it got here?

Gin said...

The seed was probably dropped by a bird. They love them. I'll agree about the smell. So sweet. Fair warning, though. Those seeds will come up everywhere and there will be bunches of them. Take it from someone who has a privet hedge and has been fighting seedlings right and left. :(

meowmom said...

ah yeah, I found two more healthy privets yesterday. One may need to go, but the other is in an ideal spot; I'd been thinking cedar for a privacy hedge there, but this is better.