The Spring ephemerals have begun. Blood root is blooming where we transplanted it last spring.
The Spring Beauties are exactly that, and one brave trillium is fully up with a bud just aching to burst into flower. "Bucky" as we call him (
Aesculus pavia Red Buckeye) is almost in full leaf. These days in the 80's in mid-March really accelerate the emersion of our sleepy friends.
Last week we planted 6 new
Ilex verticilliata Red Sprite Deciduous Holly and their red berries are looking so perky at the edge of the Woods. We are experimenting this year with a
Pachysandra terminalis, the grower had been disappointed with its performance, but by the look of its roots, it was very constrained. We are hoping it will be happier in the wild than in a pot.
Yesterday we received replacements for our Cinnamon Fern
Osmunda cinnamomea which had not performed in the ground well last spring. We have planted all 3 dozen of them in pots in hopes of being able to monitor their water intake better and track how many actually survive. We also planted over 20 flats of seeds, some of which were placed in the refrigerator for the next 2 months to simulate winter for them. The balance will go into Jane's nursery until fall when we will, hopefully, once again plant out several hundred seedlings. Three of us are members of the North Carolina Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill. As a benefit of membership we receive several free packets of native seeds each and we use these to populate 'the Woods".
Our big news for the spring however is not plants, but rather irrigation and walls and walks.
We have, in our very hot and dry summers, found a need to irrigate our Woods, particularly to establish new plantings, but also to compensate for the fact that although we are always planting NC natives, we are planting natives that are not necessarily happy in a xeric woodland setting. We will soon have a wonderful automated watering system, which should save water in the end, by using a timer we will no longer forget we left the sprinkler on, watering will take place at night giving plants an opportunity to absorb before the heat of the day and the amount put down will be measurable. The savings of time will be enormous as well! The wall locations have been charted and construction should begin soon on the new Twin Lakes Memorial Garden for the interrment of ashes. This peaceful setting is a wonderful new additon to our community and although it saddens us to loose the company of our friends and neighbors, it pleases us to be able to share our dear Woods with them. The final improvement to the Woods for this year is a upgrading of our paths to include a metal edging. Although we love the apperance of the Chapel Hill sandstone, it does migrate. Edging should minimize this, reducing the necessity for "re-rocking" and rearranging so often.
Now I just need to get into the Woods with a camera - Spring - so much to do!!
