April Fool's Day Was No Joke

What a beautiful summer-like day for the beginning of April!  We did a floral assessment on Flipper's Bend in Signal Mountain in both the woodland areas and under the power lines in the "prairie."  On the way up the mountain, you could see azaleas, fire pinks, wood phlox already in bloom.  The higher elevations were a little bit behind, but the Azaleas (R. canadens and periclymenoides) are blooming and the Poison ivy is definitely up.  Some spring ephemerals were still blooming like Bluets and Violets while other spring flowers like Partridgeberry and Pipsissewa are still in bud.  The Blueberry and Red Chokeberry crops for this year looks to be bountiful based on the sheer volume of blooms. 

It's still too soon for many of the sun-loving plants and we only saw Betony. and Phlox in bloom.

For a photos, just click on the gallery below.

April Wildflowers

Azalea in Bloom

I've been watching an azalea that is in the woods behind my house for a year, never quite catching it in bloom.  I believe it is indigenous because it is deciduous and there is a much smaller version of the same plant nearby.  I finally caught it in bloom yesterday - it has seashell pink blooms and had just started leafing out.  I'd like to think it is Rhododendron vaseyi, or Pinkshell azalea, because it hasn't been reported in this area but it could easily be R. periclymenoides.  The azalea is otherwise adrift in a sea of privet in an oak-hickory woods that drains into nearby Lake Chickamauga.

What do you think?

Green pistil, 5 stamens, sweet fragrance

Height 10-12 feet

Last year's seed capsules

Whassup? March 19, 2012

With the record warm temperatures, Spring ephemerals might be here and gone faster than usual.  Get out to enjoy them while you can!

In the Hixson area, the following wildflowers are in bloom:

This is not the Chickweed in your lawn!

Early meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum)

Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides)

Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

Foam-flower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Wild ginger (Asarum canadense)

Trilliums (Trillium sp)

Giant chickweed (Stellaria pubera)

Celadine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)

Fineleaf Toothwort (Dentaria multifida)

Yellow Trout lily (Erythronium americanum)

Violets (Viola sp.)

Also, shrubs and trees are leaving out and several native shrubs are budding up or already flowering:

Strawberry Bush/Hearts-a-bustin'  (Euonymous americanum)

Sweet shrub (Calycanthus floridus)

Of course, Redbud is already in bloom and in many areas Flowering Dogwood is ready to go.