WiseAcre Gardens

 Bluets & Pussytoes

You might never notice either of these two wildflowers while driving. Unless you catch the white haze on the ground created by large colonies of either you would never know they were there.

 Bluets

-  Houstonia caerulea

I found this single Bluet just off the road and from there you could see small clusters of these little beauties scattered all over the front yard. Well you could see white spots but if you knew what you were looking at you could tell they were Bluets.

Bluets often form large colonies or several small clumps over a large open areas.  Hard grazed rocky cow pastures are often a good place to check out. I see them where competition is sparse and low growing or kept short by mowing or browsing. They prefer dry areas where competition has a hard time getting established.

I take great pride in my Bluets. They are the sign of a truly bad lawn.  

Bad Lawn Buddies

Field Pussytoes – Antennaria neglecta

Pussytoes like dry fields as much as Bluets. They spread by runners forming colonies and are often found together in the same fields wth Bluets. Pussytoes seem to prefer the poor very dry soil where little else will grow.  But really it’s the lack of competition that allows them to hold on in the worst conditions. Pussytoes like being pampered as much as any garden perennial. Give them a home in a rock garden and they’ll thrive.

What more can I say?

Oh Yea. They’re cute and fuzzy and you can step on them. 

The much needed rain has arrived. After two weeks of unusually warm dry weather things are looking to return to normal. Before temps drop back to into the 40s we getting that first warm spring rain. Overnight the lawn has turned greener and plants are looking so much more ‘alive’

I’m also happy to have the chance to catch up on some of the blogs I’ve missed since work/play season began.  It’s even tougher now that I want to ‘document’ every little thing I do.  I thought blogging was going to be just a winter addition. Boy was I wrong and have the withdrawal shakes to  prove it.

So today I’ll make the rounds and see what I’ve been missing. I can’t forget to poke some fun towards Joy at GardenJoy4Me. We seem to have a thing going and I’d hate to let it wither like our Astilbes did last year. 

I’ve already been to Water When Dry . Aiyana always has something I can’t have and her collection of Catus and their blooms are truly irresistable.

Feeling like some of the more southern gardeners are leaving you in the dust? Visit Northern Exposure Gardening . Go see what Spring looks like in zone one. A week ago her yard was covered in snow.

I just returned from Terra Nova Design . I was hoping to find more about Cab’s new garden tool. I finally found someone who thinks like me – can’t garden without a truck. But I found bad news when I got there. She lost a furry friend the other day. She’s out working hard in the garden trying to ease the grief.

I can’t forget my favorite Nova Scotia retreat. Jodi at Bloomingwriter always has something interesting posted. But today I found too much about annuals. I’m a perennial pest and leave the annuals to others. But her photos are almost enough to make a convert out of me.  Any cat lovers out there? Jodi’s cat children seem to make regular appearences too.

Mark at The Green Fingered Photographer always has something going on besides great photos. I suggest digging into the blog and pulling out some of his wildflower and ‘green roof’ projects.  Enter his Wednesday Wanderings   photo pick and you might end up with a framed copy of your favorite. If you go today be prepared to meet some bees.

I couldn’t help laughing when I arrived at May Dreams Gardens.  The other day she posted – “One of the secrets to being happy as a gardener is to embrace weeding.” I couldn’t help but to think of my wife and her lack of weeding enthusiasium.  But Carol is right. If you look at weeding as an opportunity to relax, meditate and just enjoy being in the garden it is it’s own reward. (ah who am I trying to fool – weeding is a chore. Better than mowing the lawn but still a necessary evil)

I’m a frequent visitor to Digital Flower Pictures too. I find inspiration and hope that at least a few of my photos reach that standard of excellence. I don’t comment there much – I just don’t have the words since the photos leave me speechless.

 Next on the list is Kris at Blithewold . I like to visit and see what’s happening at Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum . I envy Kris’s job and she makes it even worst by making it sound like so much fun. But the pressure of keeping up with all the demands a place like requires is enough to scare me.

If anyone can change the bad first impression I got of Texas 30 years ago while hitch hiking with a ponytail it would be Pam at Digging . From there you can take a virtual tour of all the Austin, Texas blogs.  I wasn’t able to get to ‘Spring Fling’ and am sorry to have missed all fun. Maybe next year I’ll put off work and go. Everyone down there sounds so inviting. But right now go look at her ‘Little John’ dwarf bottlebrush. It’s enough to make northern gardeners think about moving south.

I have to admit it was the title of the blog that caught my attention. How can you not visit a site named ’Mr McGregor’s Daughter’. I’m so glad I had the time today to visit again. Her post: Where the Wild Thing Are is a reflection of one of mine. Go see some early spring wildflowers in the Trout Park – Nature Area that she photographed the other day. With posts like that there is little wonder I return.

 Arrgh! I’m too late. I have a Long Island blog I like to visit in order to see what’s happening down there since I have a “job” in the area. When I got to the site today I found out I’m going to miss a “Plant Sale”.  Not only will I miss the sale but a good reason to meet Melanie from Old Country Gardens .  I’m just not sure I’d want Calie licking my toes.

Cold Climate Gardening garners a Mouse and Trowel nomination  Go see why I am not the only one who thinks this is a great blog. But I still claim colder temps!

Here’s another blog with a title that’s hard to resist. This Garden is Illegal caught the attention of the troublemaker in me. I arrived just in time to see the rant about Earth day marketing. Spending money does not equal saving the Earth. Stop by and vent a little yourself. You’ll feel better letting some steam escape.

Whoot!

Ok the rain has let up and I need to get a few things done. I’m sorry I can’t get to more blogs right now but I’ve got things to go and places to do. Spring is keeping me busy and all I can hope for is another chance to blog around again soon. I get to much enjoyment from this addiction I picked up over the winter. All I can do is try and keep it under ‘control’.

I’m getting slower with age and that includes my driving. For proof I offer up this photo of a race I was in yesterday. It wasn’t even close.

Well he did have a 2 horse powered buggy and I had almost a ton of rock in my little 4 banger pick-up. And for real excitement you need to try this at night. Those buggies don’t have lights and like this fellow most refuse to put reflectors on their vehicles too.

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 Ground Ivy – Cat’s Foot  Creeping Charlie

This little mat forming plant is a ?

• A – Weed
• B - Salad Green
• C- Medicinal Plant
• D- Alien Wildflower
• E- Garden Perennial

This is a very aggressive plant spreading by runners. It seems that no area is safe from invasion and will Shock and Awe a lawn and it’s owner by it’s rapid deployment. Brought over to the new world by early settlers Gill Over the Ground has made itself at home over much of the country.

It has a long history of being used as a medicinal plant. It is supposed to be a great spring tonic but I’ve never had the need to try. Spring is enough of a tonic for me. It is also said to have a light taste very agreeable in Salads.  High in vitamin C, I guess it wouldn’t hurt me to try some.

For someone with fading eyes the flowers are only tiny specks of purple easily missed from the dizzy height of nearly 6 feet. Up close and personal the blooms are quite pretty. While I often consider this a weed I also like it as a ground cover and let it have some space in my gardens. It does very well in sunny dry places that give other plants a hard time. The clump shown in the photo is growing in not much more than rocky sand along the foundation of the house.

Ground Ivy and some small Violets. The Violet flowers are not quite an inch wide. That gives you some idea how small the Ground Ivy flowers are.

So the answer to the question is – all of the above and more.