Yellow and Blue – Update on #Wildflowers at The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain, 03/24/2013

It was a cloudy and dreary day today, following a lot of rain yesterday and last night, but Cindy and I made a quick run down to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain again today to keep from being cooped up in the house another day.  We were glad we did – the yellow and blue are out – Bluebells and Wood Poppies are blooming!

Virginia Bluebells – Mertensia virginica

Read on for the rest of the list, and a few more photos.  Click on the photos for larger images, and then “back” to return to this page.

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#NPOD: Wood Poppy #Nativeplants

Native Plant of the Day 02/02/2013

Photo from March 26, 2008. Location: The Pocket, Walker County, GA.

Wood Poppy - for more photos / info go to the Stylophorum diphyllum detail page.

Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy - Stylophorum diphyllum

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Wildflowers at The Pocket 03/11/2012

Purple Phacelia, Fernleaf Phacelia – Phacelia bipinnatifida

I wasn’t planning on going down to The Pocket this weekend, but my wife had other plans for Sunday, so she suggested that I do something to take advantage of the beautiful day, so I headed down there shortly after getting home from church.  In addition to walking the boardwalk and the trail up to the falls, I did a little back country walking above the bluff north of the horse trail.  Wildflowers are abundant; here is my report, and a couple of photos taken off the beaten path in The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain.

The Phacelia are blooming.  There is a Phacelia in the field to the right as you walk down to the boardwalk; they are blooming along the boardwalk and all the way up to the falls.  The photo above was taken up on the top of the north bluff.

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An Early Spring at The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain

This is Leap Day.  For this once-every-four-years day, I thought that rather than the normal Native Plant of the Day (#NPOD on Twitter) I’d post a few native plants from and a report on the early spring status of the wildflowers at one of Georgia’s premier wildflower locations, The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain.  As things worked out, Feb 27 was the day available to make the short trek down to that part of Walker County.

It was a beautiful day.  When my wife and I headed down to The Pocket on Monday, Feb 27, 2012, we considered both the beautiful day and the time we were able to spend together a blessing from God.  We also expected to find wildflowers, since we’ve had very little real winter and quite a warm February. However, we had no idea!

Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis at The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain

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04/06/2010 Wildflower Status Update at The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain

We made a quick trip down to The Pocket on Tuesday evening.  We made a short 100-yard walk up the horse trail and took a spin around the boardwalk, so I’m unable to update the status of flowers found along the trail to the falls, but here’s what I’ve got.

Wild Blue Phlox from 04/06/2010

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04/01/2010 The Pocket Status Update

In summary: This will be a good weekend at The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain, especially since tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and warm, as was today. 

Aquilegia canadensis - Columbine from 04/01/2010

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03/27/2010 The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain with GA Botanical Society

On Saturday I participated in the Georgia Botanical Society outing to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain, led by Mike Christison.  I’m a new member of the BotSoc, as they call it, and this membership in this organization is already paying dividends in many ways.  In addition to showing me two more wildflowers sites on Pigeon Mountain, I picked up two new species at The Pocket.  One of those was the Roundleaf Yellow Violet.

Roundleaf Yellow Violet

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04/17/2009: The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain

Cindy and I headed down to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain around 4:30 Friday afternoon.  I knew the light would be failing on the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail soon after we arrived, but I was committed for Saturday, and wanted to make sure I was able to make a weekly report on the wildflower status during the spring season.  If you’re into watching the seed-formation process, this is a good time for you.  There is still an abundance of wildflowers in The Pocket, making a trip absolutely worthwhile, but of the “signature flowers,” Virginia bluebell and wood poppy are past blooming or almost so, and the bent trillium is abundant but in decline.  The dominant species in the boardwalk area is probably the wild hyacinth, with the wild geranium still providing a pink splash around much of the trail. 

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04/11/2009 The Pocket – Status Update

To avoid crowds like those that were on the Shirley Miller Trail at The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain last week, I headed down there early Saturday morning, arriving at the parking area shortly after 8 AM. The sky was overcast, but the wind was low – a good situation for wildflower photography. My first stop was the dogwood tree beside the parking area.

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04/04/2009 The Pocket – CVPC Keenagers

Due to rain and obligations, it had been 9 days since I’d been down to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain. Today was the Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church’s Keen-agers’ annual (I think) wildflower hike at The Pocket, so at 10 AM I joined the other folks in my age group at the church, and soon we headed on down to Pigeon Mountain. I returned from the hike with 381 photographs; two of them with people in them. After an initial run through the photographs, I’ve deleted about 150 of them; both photos of people remain.

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03/18/2009 The Pocket

Long-Spurred Violet

I only have time for a quick post, so I’ll list what I found… Read the rest of this entry »

03/15/2009 The Pocket

Spring Beauty

Six days since I had been up to The Pocket.   The rain broke during church, so after the church lunch I headed down to check out the wildflowers.  The Spring Beauty is currently the dominant flower in terms of number in bloom; they are everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »

03/10/2009 The Pocket Explosion of Wildflowers Continues

Dutchman's Breeches

Cindy took Joseph down to Shirley Miller Trail at The Pocket again today.  Joseph was wanting to take a camera down there to try his hand at wildflower photography, and I must say, he did well.  I’m glad they went back today, because apparently things are continuing to develop rapidly. Read the rest of this entry »

03/09/2009 The Pocket – Trout Lilies and an Early Wood Poppy

1st Wood Poppy of the Season

Cindy wasn’t able to get down to The Pocket on Saturday, and suggested that we might go down there today.  With the change to daylight savings time, we had an extra hour of daylight, so shortly after 5 pm we headed down.  It was another great day for the wildflowers of The Pocket.

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03/01/2009 The Pocket

It was COLD – 39 degrees – and WINDY.  Sunday afternoon, a bit of snow in the morning. 

Bloodroot

For some reason, my invitees for another trip to The Pocket all declined.  Too bad.  I thought it would be a quick trip down there, but I found myself lingering.  I didn’t find any plants blooming that I hadn’t at least seen buds on previously, but there were still many opportunities for photographs.

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