Sad Azaleas

My light pink azalea came through the winter fine and is very pretty this year. I have three other bushes and they didn't fare nearly as well.


This one is white and has buds on it for the first time since I bought it. It doesn't have a lot of buds and it is a bit scraggly.

This one is a darker pink and although it was quite small when I bought it last year it had leaves and a pretty shape. It's hard to tell it's an azalea unless you get up close.

My favorite plant, which is a coral color that usually blooms after the pink is a very sorry sight indeed. This was a gift from my daughter when I first started gardening. The first year something (or someone) stepped on it and broke off a large section. It still bloomed and later started healing and filling in the bare spot. I was certain it had recovered and would be a show piece this year. It has a few buds and some new leaves but it is a very very sad thing to look at.


This is how it looked last year.


I don't know why three of my plants are looking so sorry this year. I guess I'll plan to cut them back hard after they bloom and do some reading to see if I need to add something to the soil.

Celandine Wood Poppy

In my last post I had a mystery plant which was identified by Tina and Annie as Celandine Poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum . Thanks ladies! This led me on a search for other pictures to compare my plant to and most all of them were of a plant/weed that grows all over here that I had no name for. It's pretty and welcome in the wildflower areas but when it gets into the garden it threatens to take over. There were a few pictures that looked like my mystery plant.



Here's a closer look at both the flowers and the leaves.

Chelidonium majus

After looking up Celandine Poppy and finding links referring to Wood Poppy my brain finally clicked and I do remember picking up a seedling at a plant sale last September. I still don't remember planting it though. Here's a better picture. Both the flower and the leaves do look very similar but slightly different to the flowers I'm used to.

Stylophorum diphyllum

My confusion continued as I continued to find pictures of both plants all labeled with the same name. Then I happened across the Appalachian Cultural Museum site where I found this:

You can often find a similar plant growing along roadsides and other disturbed areas. It was introduced from Europe. This is the Celandine (Chelidonium majus). It differs from the Celandine Poppy in having smaller flowers and smooth fruits which do not retain the styles.

With two plants with virtually the same name it's no wonder they get mixed up!

Little Blooms - GBBD

You have to get up close to see most of the things blooming in my garden right now. I have no idea what this plant is. I don't remember planting it but I left it when I did the early weeding. After last night's rain and with the wind blowing today I wasn't able to get a very good picture. Am I nurturing another weed? If so it's ok, it's a cute little flower.


Trillium is my favorite spring flower. Several of the white one are still blooming but the red seem to be done.


I don't know what these shrubs are. They grow wild at the edge of the property. South of here I've seen the white ones blooming. I have both white and pink budding now. One of these has self seeded in the nightmare bed willow bed and I've decided to leave it for the birds and the butterflies.


The forsythia is almost done. It used to cover most of the western property line but the neighbors wanted it gone because it attracted bees :(


This redbud will be done soon. It isn't actually mine but I get to enjoy it anyway.


Other blooms:

• Lungwort
• Bleedinghearts
  
• Azalea
  
• Violets
• Pansies
• Fushia
• Impatients
• Forget-me-nots
• Periwinkle
• Spurge
• Strawberries
  

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