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Pinxter Azalea

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Maple-leaf Viburnum

Just now beginning to leaf out, greeting spring. Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), native to eastern North America, an understory, deciduous shrub. It’s plentiful up here on my mountain, and is easy to identify with its twin, maple-like leaves. I’ve been fortunate to have received several of these shrubs as gifts. Shrubs that I’m watching grow…
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Crimson in a Black and White Landscape

Late May into June they go from tiny bud to minuscule flower. A flower and lots of buds of Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). A deciduous species of Holly native to eastern North America in the United States and southeastern Canada. And now in WINTER a big splash of color. Crimson berries that attract oodles of birds…
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Winterberry Revisited

At the very top of my favorites for wintertime shrubs — Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). A deciduous species of Holly. Native to eastern North America, and is hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9. Winterberry is a dioecious bush that gets tiny inconspicuous flowers in June and July that attract bees and butterflies and is the host…
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Blackhaw Drupes

What are drupes? In botany a drupe is a plump fruit which does not split open when ripe, with a thin skin and a central shell containing a single seed. Examples are Almond, Cherry, Peach, Elderberry, Olive, Coffee, and Coconut. And of course Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) seen in the picture above. Right now in the…
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Black Gum Tree

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Purple-flowered Raspberry

I had no idea such a thing existed. A raspberry bush with such pretty flowers. Raspberry blossoms of a bright magenta rather than white. Being up on Skyline Drive at just the right time, during bloom time revealed this unusual plant to me. Purple-flowered Raspberry (Rubus odoratus). Since it was growing in Shenandoah National Park,…