I think I can actually hear the flowers and leaves unfurling at this time of year. I know I can see their growth every day. Abundance is everywhere. I am especially grateful for this joyous rebirth after a particularly challenging winter for me.
Devotion reminds me that wintering is a necessary element for growth. What is more precious than the unfurling of a cinnamon fern?
The Japanese maple ‘Katsura’ lights up the woodland garden.
Spring is a time for going slowly through a woodland garden. So many ephemerals and other perennials fill the forest floor. Perhaps no one species gives me more joy than the trillium.
I am in such a rush to see what’s happening in the garden that I would miss this sweet flower except I know where she lives so I look closely for her!
Then there’s the extravagant display of the foamflower that you absolutely cannot miss.
Solomon’s seal is another gift from Mother Nature as a result of removing the prolific exotic invasives that had choked the life from so many perennials. While bleeding heart is a native perennial, I ordered ‘Valentine’ from Plant Delights in Raleigh, NC. Thank you Tony Avent for your tireless devotion to providing such amazing specimens for every garden need.
I quickly learned perennials that naturalize easily is nature’s way of eliminating weeds and preventing erosion. So, I mimic Mother Nature by adding Virginia bluebells and wood poppy to the already present geranium.
After Tropical Storm Fred dropped 17″ of rain here in August, 2021, we had to restore Robinson Creek with lots of heavy equipment. I was delighted to see that this creekside perennial survived.
Mother Nature has given me many riches, but that doesn’t preclude me from adding more….no one believes that less is more in a garden! I purchased this woodland orchid from Plant Delights in 2021, hoping against hope that it would adapt from its Japanese homeland to my garden.
And then there are the many gifts from friends that remind me of their presence in my life every time I walk through the garden.
I met Gary Merrill at a woodland garden workshop sponsored by the Southern Highlands Preserve at Lake Toxaway, NC in 2015. We have remained friends and despite his cancer diagnosis, he remains committed to rewilding the many acres around his home. Each spring around Earth Day I meet him for a hike on his very vertical property. Last year he gifted me with one of the plentiful delphiniums that I so adore! Gardens are all about relationships with people and with nature.
Sieglinde Anderson, an extraordinary landscape designer in Asheville, NC gave me this beauty.
My garden designer, Nancy Duffy, is always introducing me to new plants every time I visit her garden Acorn Hill. This has become a spectacular addition to my spring garden.
I am also reminded that I garden in an effort to create the habitat necessary for the birds, bees, butterflies to survive.
One would think that having Devotion right out my door would be enough stimulation, but oh no, I need the NC Arboretum for more treasure hunting. I was not disappointed!
I especially love the first sighting of “old friends” when I walk the trails there.
So many violets!
And then there’s the brief bloom of trailing arbutus. You have to pay attention to see this tiny one!
And thanks to Bill and Alice Hart, I know where to find the Oconee Bells.
Dwarf crested iris abound at Devotion, but they really light up the trails at the Arboretum.
Then there is the saying goodbye to one of my favorite woodland perennials, the trout lily. See you next year!
I simply cannot imagine my life without this passion for plants. I don’t remember who said it, but it’s true: “When you have all the time in the world, you don’t need to go anywhere. Just be where you are.”