Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

The willow is too close to the house.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Second rate reporter says what?

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

I really should read my own blog.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it’s a trap.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Spring in Athens

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Spring in Athens

by | 112 Comments

This post is in: 


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From indefatigable commentor / photographer Raven:

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Earlier predictions had been yet another bout of ‘wintery mix’ for the Boston area on Saturday, but actually it was sunny and in the low 50s and gorgeous. Well, apart from the fact there’s only a few brave daffodils yet to camouflage all the considerable winter landscape damage. Still a bit early to start uncovering the beds, but there’s plenty raking and detritus-removal I could start even while the ground is still thawing…

What’s going on in your garden (planning), this week?
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Reader Interactions

112Comments

  5. 5.

    HeleninEire

    Beautiful pics, Raven. Also loved the doggo pics on FB yesterday of them patiently waiting for their cookies at the hardware store.

  10. 10.

    J R in WV

    Good morning, everyone, esp. rikyrah!

    Friday it was so warm here we worked outside, I just wore a tee shirt (long sleeved) and knit shorts. I mixed liquid fertilizer and poured it a newly planted rhododendron bushes from last fall, and on newly emerged and not yet emerged ferns, as well as the wonderful dog-tooth violet patch, which expands be several feet in every direction every spring.

    It was a beautiful spring day, Friday.

    Right now it’s 20 outside, and snowed all day long yesterday, so not so much like Spring. There are a number of things in bloom, including many daffodils, which a late friend renymed DaffyDills some years back, because they seem here to bloom just before a major snow storm many years.

    The Bluebells are up and in bloom, although not as tall and robust looking as some years, really pretty tho. The Ramps (quaint local wild onion/garlic type greens with little bulbs of tasty goodness) are up and doing well around the woods beside the house. If I plant them in the woods away from the house people hunting mushrooms will “loot” them from my plantings.

    So far being right around the house seems to deter looting of the plantings. There are certain forest growing foodstuff plants which are frequently regarded as a public commons, and will be taken when found. Morels and other mushrooms, ginsang, ramps primarily.

    Morels don’t come up every year, and even in a strongly growing patch all of them don’t come up every year, so they continue to be present even in a neighborhood with lots of people cruising the woods for ‘shrooms. Ramps can be dug to extinction pretty quickly, and have been eradicated in our county. In steeper countrysides they are more persistent and grow enough to be harvested and sold by ramp diggers on the roadsides. That’s where I get my plants to reestablish the ramps in my personal woods around our house.

    I have just started harvesting enough of MY ramps for one or two meals each spring, but I still buy large batches of wild ramps from roadside sellers, eat a little bit of those bunches, and then plant the vast majority of those plants in the woods around the house, if there any chance they’ll take off and grow. Mostly folks keep them in coolers with damp roots in order for them to stay fresh looking and salable.

    I’ll send some pictures of our early spring plants asap, after it warms up a bit.

    Happy Easter resurrection holiday to our Orthodox friends !! I’m planning on 3 or 4 more hours of sleep, so goodnight, all…

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    OT.

    Suddenly over a dozen things which had finished viewing and removed from the Watch Next list on Amazon Prime, some from months and months ago, have popped back up in the queue.

    Weird.

  14. 14.

    satby

    What little was going on in my garden is probably frozen to death in the current 15° temperature. I have the tender stuff still covered from winter, but the daffodils that have bloomed are done for, and the iris and tulip greenery is still just beginning to peep out, so they shouldn’t be too damaged. I have the potted tulips back inside, along with all the stuff that got delivered this week except for the crab apple trees, which are in my unheated garage. The cold is supposed to recede by mid week, at least night time temps won’t go below freezing.
    Worst spring ever this year.

  20. 20.

    raven

    @HeleninEire: Ha! When we get there the Bohdi tries to nudge the door open with his nose! There are two guys there Saturday mornings and they each bring the knuckleheads a treat and our neighbor swings with her lab Riley by as well. Here’s a shot a few seconds later when the owner was at the counter. Normal Hardware doesn’t have a hot stove but, other than that, it’s a real throwback. They cut class, sharpen blades and, most important, dispense advice and are wonderful historians of the neighborhood.

  21. 21.

    satby

    @BillinGlendaleCA: 91° would suck as bad in the opposite. But did I mention the snow? That’s coming tonight. If it had happened last night it would have given the plants a little protection ?.

  23. 23.

    raven

    @satby: I should have mentioned that, starting three weeks ago, the farmers market reopened to we swing by there first now!

  24. 24.

    charluckles

    Any rose growers? The spring weather in my area is lunacy. 60s followed by snow and lows in the 20s. I am new to roses and planted a bunch last summer and fall. When should they be uncovered from their winter blanket? Everything I read suggests waiting until its warmer (my forsythia has not bloomed), but I can also see a lot of new growth on the roses peeking out from their winter blankets.

  26. 26.

    J R in WV

    We did have redbud in bloom when I went to town the other day. I hope this weather change dodn’t do it harm! 22 is pretty cold for blooming trees!!

  28. 28.

    satby

    @raven: First? It must open pretty early, ours opens at 7am. Though now that I don’t have to brawl for a space (j/k) I get there about 8am. The shoppers there between 7-8 are there for veggies and not much else, they come in, get them, and leave. I’ve never had a sale before 8:30 at the earliest, so I enjoy a slightly more leisurely morning ?

  29. 29.

    satby

    @charluckles: mine are staying covered until the danger of frost is mostly gone. Probably July at this point ?

    Edited: the New growth needs to protection more than the old growth, so leave them covered.

  30. 30.

    satby

    Hoping new commenter @dog worrier updates us on what happened to his neighbors dog. Afraid no one responded to his question until too late last night. Hope the dog is ok.

  31. 31.

    Raven

    @satby: They open at 8 so I hit the bakery at 7, hang and read the paper til 7:45 and then go. Sundays I go see my rwnj, cancer ridden (not really bad yet, Nam vet Hawaiian buddy and then grocery shop.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Yesterdays ball game was the coldest start in Cardinals history: “It was 37 degrees at gametime with a wind chill of 29.”
    Forecast for today’s game? “A snow/rain mix is in the forecast.”

    My daffs survived the 22 degree low yester morn. Supposed to hit 24 this morn so I figure they’ll be OK.

  36. 36.

    charluckles

    Thanks. Before children I was never an outdoor gardener. The learning curves are steep, I have many questions, and answers from internet searches can be nebulous. I look forward to reading this post every week.

  37. 37.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hope so. They’re bred for that, but a fat, old dog unused to bring outside for long times in freezing weather might not fare so well.
    People are so thoughtlessly cruel.

  39. 39.

    Ramalama

    @charluckles: What I would give to be able to grow roses…and honeysuckle… in my yard. Here in the province of Quebec, there’s just a helluva lot o’ snow. And when we do see snowless spring and summer, where it does get quite hot, not a lot of direct sun. Too many old trees. I live vicariously through reports here.

  41. 41.

    Betty Cracker

    Beautiful photos, Raven!

    Our garden is a bit of a wreck since we (by “we” I mean my husband) have focused on installing a new fence since Irma wrecked our old one. The mister won’t go to Lowe’s and buy fence panels like everyone else; he builds them from scratch, so it’s like an art installation! He just finished yesterday, so now he can get on with the gardening.

  42. 42.

    Sab

    @satby: He is probably okay.

    Years ago I had an emotionally disturbed lab who was afraid of almost everything. When I remarried and acquired live-in stepchildren the lab decided he would be an outdoor dog. We would spend hours chasing him around the backyard to catch him to bring him in for the night. Sometimes we gave up and let him sleep out in northern Ohio winter.

    He eventually settled down and moved back inside. I think he got so senile that he forgot whatever it was that had traumatized him in his youth.

    He lived sixteen years.

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby:

    People are so thoughtlessly cruel.

    Yep, they certainly can be. The Woofmiester would be fine with it, even with his CHD. When I am working around the place, no matter how cold it is, he insists on being outside where he can keep an eye on me. Just in case I should try to leave without him.

    I’m pretty sure a time will come when it would be the death of him, but not to worry, Mama’s on the prowl and she surely would not allow her beloved Woofie to suffer the cold for even a half second longer than it took him to pee or poop.

  44. 44.

    tybee

    @Betty Cracker:
    a stick built fence will last decades longer than those cheap chit fence panels that the box store sells.
    feller down the street put up a panel fence 20 some odd years ago. it’s been mostly rebuilt twice due to rotten panels
    my 24 year old stick built fence has had no issues other than what hurricanes/tropical storms have dropped on it.
    be happy he did it right.

  45. 45.

    debbie

    Beautiful photos! If the cold weather kills off the magnolias and azaleas this year, I will be beyond despondent.

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    @satby:

    I’m hoping too. They said “temperatures will get below freezing” — that doesn’t sound like low enough enough to kill a fat Labrador.

  51. 51.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Stop it. Not even you are without missteps. Besides, James Fallows and TNC more than make up for that Williamson clown.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    @debbie: I have rarely been disappointed in my expectation of disappointment. We’ll see where they go from here.

  53. 53.

    Yarrow

    @raven: Your photos are gorgeous. I watched a bit of the Masters yesterday when I was at the gym. It was on the crappy mini screen they have on the treadmill and it was hard to see much of anything.. I couldn’t see much in the way of azaleas so I wasn’t sure if the timing had worked out this year. Love the photos of your doggos, too. So cute.

  54. 54.

    Cermet

    Nice pics but where is spring besides there? Too cold. Still, it does warm in the afternoon, at least.

  55. 55.

    Immanentize

    Just the suggestion of Spring here North of The Hub. Some irises, no daffodils, and temps will continue to scrape freezing all week. Just heard honking geese fly over, so there is that!

  56. 56.

    Princess

    @J R in WV: I can’t say I have woods but I do have some trees in a wild area in the back of my Chicago garden, and I have been trying to naturalize ramps (the origin of the name of the city) there for a few years. They come up every year, but they aren’t really spreading yet that I feel comfortable enough to harvest them.

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Oh boy, oh boyohboyboyo:

    A Houston-based company said this week it plans to open the “first luxury hotel in space” by late 2021.

    Orion Span’s compact Aurora Station – at 35ft-by-14ft its interior will be comparable to that of a Gulfstream jet, the company said – is projected to accommodate four travellers and two crew members for 12-day stays 200 miles above the earth.

    The line at the reception desk is gonna be a long one.

    Guests will be charged $9.5m each, or about $791,666 a night. Refundable deposits of $80,000 can now be made online.

    Then again, maybe not.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    Wow, raven. All those flowering trees and shrubs are a sight for sore eyes! How far ahead would you say you guys typically are in the spring as compared to CU?

    It’s still so cold here in CU that I can’t even think about sitting out on the porch – today it’s 22 and snow predicted. Same for tomorrow. Hoping I don’t miss most of spring because I can’t get around on my ankle.

  59. 59.

    ThresherK

    First spring in our new apartment surroundings. The rail-trail nearby is nice. Cats entertained by the birds out the front and the back windows. But can’t say it’s really spring here yet.

    Thanks to all who chimed in; we loved Kiki’s Delivery Service. An absolute charmer and animated in a way that is missing from big American releases. This was the 2010 Disney release with all the options, and we went with the Japanese soundtrack over the English subtitles. More Studio Ghibli DVDs are to be sought out.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @J R in WV: Jealous of your bluebells! Mine aren’t even thinking of coming up yet. Had never heard of dog-tooth violet, so I googled. So pretty! I wonder if that’s a wildflower that won’t bloom here in zone 5.5.

    I tried to fertilize my ferns once and they all burned up, even though it wasn’t a strong fertilizer mix, so I vowed never again. Is there a secret to it?

    Can’t wait for your photos!

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: I am so jealous of your neighborhood hardware store. Seeing your photo brought tears to my eyes.

    Growing up, we lived in a double apartment upstairs from the family tavern we owned, and we lived in the business district a block from the commuter train tracks and a couple of blocks from where all the houses started. My dad was a handy guy and the hardware store was right around the corner, so it was a regular Saturday morning activity for my dad and I to go to the hardware store. Thanks for stirring up the memory!

  64. 64.

    schrodingers_cat

    @debbie: @Baud: Atlantic has been teetering on that precipice for awhile now. Their politics articles have been too Slate pitchy and way to many articles by Frumses and Salaams for my liking.
    And no there is no need to discuss the “ideas” put forth by R liars with a good vocab like Salaam.

  65. 65.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Major Major Major Major: Very nice. Are you going to Kyoto? I enjoyed Nara, but the gardens in Kyoto are at a whole ‘nother level. Try to visit the imperial gardens outside town. The tours were only in Japanese when I was there (presumably the gaijin only visit the gardens in town), but I was happily adopted by Japanese tourists who wanted to practice their English and be kind to the strange foreigner. Win-win all around.

  67. 67.

    oldgold

    My neighbor from hell, Dee Dee Plorable, has decided to raise chickens. Although not part of her plan, the coop is so shabby, they are essentially free range chickens.

    Yesterday, “Grandpa OG, there are some big white birds in the yard!”

    Where are the foxes?

  69. 69.

    debbie

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’ve never read any of the writers you reference; I just turn the page. I don’t know what that makes me, but I’d hate to miss something really worthwhile. YMMV.

  73. 73.

    JAM

    I’m planning to plant some bareroot liatris plants in my butterfly border today. We’ve had 3 overnight freezes and even a little snow this week, which is weird for OK in April, but it’s supposed to make it up to the 80s Thursday.

  74. 74.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Question for people who know how to build things (Ozark and others): I’ve just assembled a 4′ x 8′ raised garden bed (cedar) and purchased 1/2″ sch. 40 pvc pipe to install for hoop covering. I have 1/2″ straps to affix the pipes to either side. Originally I just got wood screws to fasten the straps and pipes in, but I’m wondering if something stronger – maybe nut and bolts? – might be advisable. Your sage recommendations would be welcome. Thanks.

    Also, our daffodils are up and increasing in number after two years’ of planting. We are in drought and experiencing heavy winds, so must go out and water our fledgling greenery before they get stripped of all moisture.

  75. 75.

    jnfr

    Too early for much here in Colorado, but I have confirmed the survival of catmint, yarrows, sedums, walking onions, lilies, and perennial sunflowers. Strawberry plants also returning. Can’t tell yet if the liatris survived.

    It’ll be another month before I can start any warm weather crops. Can’t wait.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Those didn’t look like the violets that grow in grass here, surely the violets you showed in your photo are different from the standard weed violets we get here?

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Would love to see photos of the fence. What wood is it made out of? I absolutely love wood that is sealed but not stained – can we get pics before and after staining?

  80. 80.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @NotMax: Thanks! I’m definitely looking for a robust outdoor solution, especially with the crazy winds we’ve been getting.

  82. 82.

    BruceFromOhio

    Raven those are beautiful. Even if spring remains elusive here, it’s happening somewhere!

    Did the branch and detritus clean up yesterday when it was sunny and dry for once. Now it’s snowing. Again.

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @O. Felix Culpa: Screws will work just fine, be sure to use 2 at each end of the pipe, 1 low, 1 high. Also run a rib the length of it at the top for stabilizing.

  84. 84.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    HA! sounds exactly like the hardware store by me. Except now all the old timers are gone & it is all teens who don’t know plumbers putty from a chainsaw.

    Great pictures, what a lovely garden you guys have built. We still have a foot of snow on the ground & it is below freezing at the moment. Thanks for warming photos

  86. 86.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thank you! I had planned on using two straps for each end, so it’s nice to get confirmation that solution should work. I wasn’t going to run the rib across the top, but it sounds like a good idea. Another trip to large hardware store is in order. What do you recommend for fastening the rib to the hoops?

    ETA: Wish I could go to raven’s friendly neighborhood hardware store, but it’s a long haul from northern New Mexico, alas.

  88. 88.

    tybee

    @NotMax:
    treated lumber, #1 or #2, left alone turns sliver-gray after a few years in the sun and does not need retreating like varnishes or stains will.

  89. 89.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: I double checked:

    Violets typically have heart-shaped leaves, and asymmetrical flowers. The shape of the petals defines many species, for example, some Violets have a spur at the end of each petal. Flower colors vary among the Violets, many of which are violet as their name suggests, and some are blue, yellow, white and cream. Some are bicolored, often blue and yellow.

    Dogtooth violets are a variant of the common violet. Why are they more common in some locations than others is just as likely to be environmental as genetics. Really could not say.

    ETA or possibly not. further reading brought me to this:

    The genus includes the Dog Violets, a group of scentless species which are the commonest violets in many areas; the Sweet Violet, Viola odorata (named from its sweet scent) and many other species whose common name includes the word “Violet”. Several species are known as Pansies.

  90. 90.

    justawriter

    Been snowing for four or five hours now, two to five inches expected by midnight. Whee, f*cking whee.

    It would be so bad as I grew up with winter lasting into early May, but the snow was almost completely gone by the end of February this year but we have had weekly winter storms for the last month and another big one is scheduled for Friday the 13th. Cramming six months of winter into six weeks is no fun.

  91. 91.

    TaMara (HFG)

    Great photos. Now I’m off to prune a very old forsythia I inherited. Who knew they were so fussy to bloom. Don’t like old wood. But then, who does? ;-)

  94. 94.

    chopper

    been helping my neighbor pour concrete for his new back patio. just to make it fun, the Seattle weather gods decided a downpour would be appropriate right when we needed to start smoothing it.

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    @OzarkHillbilly: The violets in our yard just started blooming a few days ago. In the last couple of days, our dog Ellie has taken to eating the blooms of as many as she can reach. She seems to love them. I’ve never seen anything like it, but she likes to eat anything (especially if it’s white).

    It’ll make it difficult for me to try to (finally) get them under control this spring.

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    We got the dogtooth violets as roots in peat in little plastic bags, and I planted them in several places. One spot below a big stone boulder they have really taken off. Tiny yellow blooms on an upright stem, just a couple pointed leaves for each plant. They’re on the south side of the boulder, and I think the big rock shelters the plants through the summer. They spread a foot or two via underground runners during the summer, after the leaves have died off, which happens right after the blooming is done, end of April or so.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: there is a local guy who works for the university here that grows some of the more interesting woodland wildflowers in his yard and then sells some to a few of us that are into native and woodland plants.

    I may have to drop him a line and ask him about dog violets. Thanks!

  100. 100.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sounds easy enough. I’ll get right on it! After the wind dies down, that is. Ms. O nearly got blown away on her walk this morning. Sometimes it’s an advantage to be a little bit more…ummm…substantial.

  101. 101.

    danielx

    35 degrees up from 25 earlier this morning….not much happening garden wise as of yet.

  102. 102.

    frosty fred

    Dogtooth violets are not dog violets; they’re not violets at all. Also called trout lilies, they are in the genus Erythronium, not Viola, and are bulbous plants. You can search on the name while I go out to feed.

  103. 103.

    Mary G

    @OzarkHillbilly: The thread is probably dead, but I am catching up and read the article. This about another golfer cracked me up:

    He got a lucky break of his own when his drive hit a Swedish journalist in the ribs and the ball bounced back on to the fairway.

    Ouch!

  104. 104.

    J R in WV

    Trout lilies are not the same as dogtooth violets. We’ve had both, although the trout lilies gradually died off. Trout lilies have long stems with two opposing leaves, that do look a lot like dogtooth violet leaves, every few inches along the long stem. They also stay in leaf longer before they bloom, and their blooms look different as well.

    Dogtooth violets have no long stem, but have just two leaves coming up from the ground opposite one another, and the tiny stem with the yellow bloom come up from the center of the two leaves. Actually, for their first few years, the Dogtooth violets only have one leaf, then they start to bloom, then they get their second leaf and start to spread by root runners.

    By the time the trout lilies have come up, the dogtooth violets have retreated back into the soil for the summer.

    Having observed all this growing, blooming, spreading, etc. I can’t really defend my belief that dogtooth violets and trout lilies are different plants, although I observe such a difference in growth patterns, blooming, and spreading between the plants I bought as dogtooth violets and trout lilies that they don’t seem likely to be the same to me. I’ll look up what can be seen on-line, and compare it with what I have seen on the ground outside. While you go feed!

  105. 105.

    frosty fred

    That’s very interesting, I wonder if your trout lilies could be what I knew as Solomon’s seal, genus Polygonum. Both grew wild in southern Maryland, but the dogtooth violet frequented damp lower woodland along with spring beauty and (later) May apple, while the Polygonum preferred dryer gravelly sites.

    Still, neither one is a Viola, shared common name notwithstanding.

  106. 106.

    J R in WV

    First, I Googled and found these two sites:

    The USDA has a map showing the extent of the native “Erythronium americanum Ker Gawl.
    dogtooth violet “     which looks very like what I have growing in the rocky forest floor outside.

    Elsewhere, at a site called Ozarkedgewildflowers.com, I find something called Erythronium albidum, aka trout lily, which this site also calls dog tooth violet, although they are similar, they have a different name and don’t look identical to what I have growing outside.

    BUT:

    We just happen to have a 4 volume set, published by WVU Press, “Flora of West Virginia” by P D Strausbaugh and Earl L Core, which wife has acquired and just now dug out for me to peruse for everyone’s enlightenment. On page 236 of Volume 1 (originally published 1952, revised second edition published 1970) they discuss Erythroniun L. Fawn Lily, which it divides further into 3 separate species:

    1. E. AMERICANUM Ker Yellow Fawn Lily. aka Trout Lily. a yellow flower, common in every county of WV mostly subterranean, the bulb is deep, sending out shoots …
    2. E. UMBILICATUM which does not usually produce propagating shoots, in the Eastern counties, a southern species ranging from WV to FL…
    3. E. ALBIDUM closely resembling the previous two species but with white flowers, less common than E. americanum but present in our county, just not in our flower beds.

    There’s a lot more in the books, but I can’t type much more of it. Mine is the first species, E. Americanum Ker, because it does produce propagating shoots and has yellow flowers. These guys tell me that Dog-Tooth Violet is inappropriate because they aren’t violets, also as is Adder’s-Tongue, which is European and has red flowers.

    So they are Trout Lily. Or Yellow Fawn Lily. But when I bought and planted something sold as Trout Lily, it had long stems with opposing leaves, that were very similar to the leaves of the plants now growing outside. Grrr. I wus robbed! The picture at the first site linked up above, the USDA site, is a picture of the Trout Lily we have growing, according to the very definitive book from WVU Press, although they (The USDA) use the inappropriate name of Dog-Tooth Violet.

    Ya learn something most every day, if you’re paying attention!

  108. 108.

    J R in WV

    @frosty fred:

    We have both false Solomon’s Seal and native Solomon’s Seal, from my poor description you might think they were similar, but on the forest floor they were nothing alike.

    Solomon’s Seal has only the one long shoot with the leaves much smaller and not attached at the same point but staggered. I’ll send some pics to Anne Laurie or someone – the false Solomon’s Seal is just now sprouting from the ground. Native Solomon’s Seal comes up later and is smaller altogether than the False Solomon’s Seal.

    The commercially fraudulent Trout Lily had several shoots with leaves; I don’t recall any blooms. It did well for several years, but then faded away, I think it was too dry where they were planted. Several things faded away up there. The ramps are doing well, though.

  109. 109.

    frosty fred

    The opposite leaves didn’t sound right, but it’s probably been 50 years since I saw the plants growing.

  110. 110.

    Another Scott

    @J R in WV: Interesting!

    Reminds me of an on-line friend’s mania for fish names and identification. E.g. Bass:

    “Bass” is a popular name applied to many fish that aren’t really bass, but people call them “Bass” anyway, particularly the Black Bass (Smallmouth and Largemouth) which are actually Sunfish. Shown here are the real bass (even though one of them is called “Perch”), with links to some of the “not actually a bass” fish. The Bass Family now has its own page.

    :-)

    Seriously, there’s a lot of great information at CloveGarden if you’re interested in food ingredients, recipes, and the like.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    scav

    Another followerer of the late-developing trout lily solomon’s seal common-name sub-thread. My head once spent a good time whirling when trying to disentangle all the false Solomon’s Seal roaming about (in IL at the time). I remember there was a starry one, one that had berries that looked like beach balls and then they kept changing genus on me. Still love them although I’ve settled into the binary loose distinction of true (straight stem, flowers / berries dangle underneath) and false (stems zig-zag, flowers at end). Maybe I should be inspired by J R in WV and leap back into the fray with the acquisition of a lot more books. There’s a false one growing in WA now (checked on it recently: it’s up) to serve as muse.

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    @J R in WV: Thanks for sharing your research!

    It’s always interesting when I buy something that was mis-labeled, but it’s not always a happy interesting.

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