Tangled Branches: Cultivated

happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia

Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Woods Awaken: Native Azaleas

Except for the tree pollen, I love this time of year in the woods. The shrubs start to leaf out, then the trees take on a green haze and the light becomes diffuse but still bright. Last year, I almost missed the native azaleas while looking for spring ephemerals on the forest floor. This year, I've been watching them for 2 months and now they've begun to bloom.

Native azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides)

I believe all the ones I've found are members of the same species (Rhododendron periclymenoides), but the flowers show some color variation. I just found this key, and I'm going to go double check my conclusion after I publish this. Why not before? Good question, but I'll update the post if I got it wrong the first time.

Native azalea

The dogwood flowers are all unfolded now. They have a lot more flowers when they're in the sun, but I like them best in a lacy swath through the woods.

Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Some of the moss is "flowering" too.

Moss, unknown species

The leaf buds are as varied and interesting as flowers, and I recently learned a bit of folk wisdom about the Beech tree. It's said that when the Beech trees finally drop last year's leaves and begin to open the new ones, there will be no more frost. Looks like we're not quite there yet.

Leaf buds of American Beech (Fagus grandiflora)