If you’ll recall something I said in a previous article, you’ll be able to guess that the above flower is a member of the Aster family. Most folks have seen fleabane along roadsides and in fields. This small, daisy-like flower is very common, spread throughout Canada and the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. This photo is of Philadelphia fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus, growing on our lot in northwest Georgia.
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.
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.
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.
Low-growing plant with single tiny blue flowers in my backyard, amidst all the other weeds that crowd out any real grass. One person’s weed is another person’s wildflower. My personal definition of “wildflower” is “A flowering plant that grows without cultivation.” This weed is flowering, and we certainly aren’t cultivating it, although it’s growing more profusely than anything we are cultivating. The flower, when you look closely, is really quite pretty, and so warrants a photo and identification. Continue reading
Five days ago I said “a couple more weeks” for the columbine. Down by the creek they are just getting close; one plant is real close to opening up its bloom. But up above the falls on a rock that gets sun most of the day, there was a single columbine blossom adorning that rock. There were a few other surprises along the way. Continue reading
Joseph in the Passage
The Glen on Lookout Mountain, with the trailhead along Och’s Highway which goes from Chattanooga to Lookout Mountain, Georgia – home of Rock City – is a great place to take the grandkids. A nice trail with no really challenging sections, relatively short walk to the creek down which the water cascades (at least until the dry summer,) and that great area with high rock bluffs makes for a fun adventure without taking the entire day. Continue reading
Bent White Trillium
Changes are occurring every day at The Pocket. Probably the biggest news is that there are a couple of white trillium that are near opening, with one open enough to see the interior of the blossom (T. flexipes, probably.) Continue reading
Long-Spurred Violet
I only have time for a quick post, so I’ll list what I found… Continue reading
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. Continue reading