A Walk in the Park

This is really an amazing park. The facilities are clean and very new looking. It's only about three miles from my house too. Here is some info about the park.

492 acres of rolling wooded hills and natural beauty make up the tranquil setting of Horizons Park. This county-wide facility was purchased by Forsyth County in late 1977 from Horizons Residential Care Center. It is Forsyth Park System's largest facility and has been developed to retain its appeal to families and nature lovers.

Facilities:

2-Acre Dog Park
Disc Golf Course
Picnic Shelter
Mountain Bike Trails
Nature and Hiking Trails
Picnic Tables with Grills
Sand Volleyball Court
Horseshoe Pits
Softball Field
Playground
Restrooms
Parking Lot


I can't remember what this plant is called but it's connected by runners underground. It can form large colonies of a single organisms. My Plant Bio teacher said that people often want to pick them but end up pulling up large areas of this neat little plant.



Dogwoods are started to open! The sky is so incredibly blue setting off these creamy bracts.



Finally, the azaleas and rhododendrons are popping!





Enlarge this photo and see who is hiding in the tree.



The trail took me past this horse pasture tucked down in this valley. I'm sure this horse is used to the spying eyes of hikers.



I crossed this stream in about four different places. Each time the bridge was a little different. The water was a very milky color for the most part. I could here the frogs singing as I moved along. Their songs always ahead of me or behind. No matter how close I came I could never find them.



Many different vining plants crawl through these woods. Hopefully kudzu doesn't find this place.



The bark texture reminded me of a dry desert floor.



This is Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, Papaveraceae. I love the foliage on these little plants!



A carpet of May Apples. At first I was just seeing one or two them there they were!



I'm not sure what this is. Looks sort of like a Ginger but perhaps one of you knows.



I have loved hepaticas since I was a little girl. My family used to live way back in the woods in a small cabin that sat on a beautiful creek. I would pick little hand fulls of hepaticas to fill vases in the house.



I thought this was so pretty. The rain water flows down this ravine and into the stream.

the lesson of the moth

i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires

why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to exist
than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself

-Don Marquis

Taking It Outside

First let me explain my situation. I'm from MI but live in NC now. I moved down here at the end of September 2007. I went back to MI for the following summer 08' and returned to NC in September of 08'. I will be leaving again for MI the first week of May to begin my job again as an Orchard Scout.

While here in NC I take whatever job I can find, usually retail. With the job market being so bad it is hard to find anything good but luckily I get to say goodbye to retail this week! I found a job at a small greenhouse operation. Finally, I get to be outside beneath the sun instead of under fluorescent lites surrounded by a sea of messy clothing.

Today was my first day at Fred's greenhouses. I potted up lots of little seedlings including Thyme, Lemon Balm, Parsley, chives, Bronze Fennel, Lamium, Swiss Chard, and a few others I cannot recall. I have my first sun burn of the season on my arms and my fingernails were good and dirty!

The plants that I will be potting up!


Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights"


Thyme and Garlic Chives




I will also be helping to run his booth at the Piedmont Farmers Market. I'm looking forward to this experience since it's something I intend to do myself in the future. I will work for Fred until I leave in May for MI. I will return in September and hopefully begin work for Fred again. I am very excited about this new learning experience at the farm markets. Its going to be a nice spring!

Young Gardener

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture comparable to that of the garden...But though an old man, I am but a young gardener."

-Thomas Jefferson

My First Wordless Wednesday

Back To Reynolda Gardens

The side entry to the gardens draped with Weeping Cherry trees.



Here is the gorgeous Conservatory. I forgot to photograph this before. It's so elegant isn't it.



A Magnolia and a Weeping Cherry reaching for the sky together. And what a blue one it was.



A close up of the Magnolia's blossoms. Bee's were all over the place enjoying these large blossoms as I was.



The vegetable gardens have been tilled and seeded in many spots. They look so perfect!



The view through this weeping cherry is so beautiful. Pictures don't do the light or colors justice.



Here come the peonies. There must be hundreds of them through these gardens. I won't be here for the show though.



This rose arch has really leafed out since the last time I was here.



The first Tulip of the season!



Don't you wish your cold frames were this big. They have three of them at the gardens!



Salad greens.



Mixed perennials.

Customized Garden Binders

I have been collecting clippings from magazines for years. I cut out words and letters all the time. I also cut out interesting pictures of anything that might work for me later on. Of course, I cut out flower and landscape pics as well. I do this for the purpose of creating journal pages and customizing binders.




This one is for my perennials. I haven't added anything inside yet but plan to keep my plant maps, plant lists, culture info, and yearly notes inside.



I already have an iris binder and plan to create a vegetable binder and shade garden binder soon.

It's a lot of fun to put these together. I use BHG magazine often for this. I suggest you give it a try for a fun way to decorate your garden binders.

Garden To Do List 09

It's official. I'm going back to MI for the summer! I will be leaving here May 7Th and will start my job the 11Th. Back to Orchard Scouting, my favorite job in the world.

I have been working on a very hefty list of things to accomplish this year in the garden. The irises and cold frames are priority this year. I plan to sell lots of irises to make room for newer varieties. I won't be able to fit them all back in after dividing any way. Here are some of the things i hope to do this year!

Remove all leaves and debris that fell over the winter.

Sow seeds.

Build cold frames, trellises, and arches.

Edge beds and weed.

Move plants that need relocating.

Work on labeling plants.

Label irises as they bloom.

Dig, divide, and amend soil when irises are finished blooming.

Sell extra irises to make room for new arrivals.

Fall, plant new stuff.

Redo shade gardens.



This is a picture from a few years ago. See the mound of weedy soil in the background. I think i am actually going to do something with it this year! Luckily the potted plants have since been put in the ground, whew! The orange cone is in the neighbors yard. Its gone thankfully. Actually, last summer the neighbors put up a nice privacy fence along the back. I was happy to see that because it really gives my garden a nice backdrop.

How I Love Spring!!!

Did a lot of garden hopping today. Visited three! Here's what's blooming.

Daffodils!!!








Magnolias!!!






Camellias!!!