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White Snakeroot
White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), is an herbaceous perennial that blooms from early autumn until frost. Native to the eastern United States and Canada. Its flowers are an important source of food at the end of the season for bees, moths, flies, and butterflies. White Snakeroot plants grow to be 2 to 4 feet tall. They prefer…
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Hellebores (Hello Boris!)
Hellebores (Helleborus) are champions in my gardens. Though not native to North America but to Europe, they are extremely well behaved. They haven’t wandered at all from where I planted them long ago, only spreading slowly by rhizomatous roots. They’re an evergreen perennial that begins to show buds in January as icy winds blow. Soon…
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Cutleaf Toothwort
A spring ephemeral, a perennial native to eastern North America. Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata). The “toothwort” of its name is thanks to the appearance of its rhizome. The Cutleaf Toothwort likes woods with mesic soils covered with lots of leaf litter. This certainly must be the description of the woods where I live. Many of…
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Wood Betony
This native perennial is found in southeastern Canada, eastern North America (as well as New Mexico and Colorado) and eastern Mexico. Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis). The first time I ever saw this plant was along a trail here in the Blue Ridge. As is often the case, I took a picture of the flower, went…
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Chicory
It has a color that pulls me in, bright medium blue, with a smidgeon of purple thrown in. It tugs at my heartstrings. Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is native to Europe but has become naturalized in many parts of North America, and is part of the roadside landscape here in central Virginia. Chicory is a tough plant, sending…
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Toad Lily
Toad lily, Tricyrtis ‘Tojen’ The family of flowers that this hybrid cultivar is from – Tricyrtis – has 18 species. Some of the species are cultivated for their beauty. Looking on the web, at the variety of those cultivars, I think of orchids growing in the garden. They are that beautiful. My cultivars are…
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Wood Poppy
Brilliant color. A sure hit in my garden. Add the fact that the brilliant color is a native to moist woods, of eastern North America, and it becomes a must have for me. A must have for my garden. This screaming yellow bloom is of Wood Poppy, or Celadine Poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum. The Wood Poppy…
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Blackberry Lily
I like rich, strong, take no prisoners color. In my garden there is one flower that really fills the bill. It is Blackberry Lily, or Leopard Lily, Iris domestica. Here, a candelabra of spent flowers, having a twisted appearance, and buds ready to burst, on the naked stem of the Blackberry Lily. Once open, the…
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Come Walk With Me
Ice storm overnight. Beauty beyond words. Walk carefully with me and I will show you some of that beauty. Watch your step. It is very slick. If this blog had a sound track, this is what it would look like. I don’t know what the music actually sounds like, but as I was working on…