Tangled Branches: Cultivated

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

Monday, May 05, 2008

More Natives: Salvia and Chionanthus

Over the weekend I noticed the ditch near the road had turned blue. I don't know how I missed these last year because the entire roadside is covered with them.

A few minutes with the wildflower books told me that they're Salvia lyrata, maybe a bit weedy (but native!) and hummingbirds will sip from them. And while I was sitting on the deck looking this up, a hummingbird came by to investigate some arugula that had started to flower but soon left in search of something better. Wait, wait, I do have something better! So I dug up a few Salvia plants from the ditch and moved them to the edge of the woods - one group where I can see them from the deck and one group in front of the house.

I thought the Salvia might look good next to this - another thing I missed last year - Fringe Tree or Chionanthus virginicus.

I feel sure that it didn't bloom last year and that's how I overlooked it, because it's right at the edge of the woods very close to the house. It's only about 3 feet tall now, but through my Gardeners' Glasses I visualize it as 15 feet tall and covered in white fringe.

Here's another curiosity at the edge of the woods - fuzzy oak galls. They look like some craft project from the 1960s involving spray paint - mostly white but just tinged with pink or red.

If anybody knows what they are, please tell me. A few Google searches didn't give me an answer, but I can tell you that the first hit for "fuzzy oak gall" is this post from Ki last fall. Not the same thing, however.

I hope to keep exploring the woodland over the summer and not ignore it when I get busy with the kitchen garden (like I did last year). Purely by chance yesterday, I found some foliage that looks very like orchid foliage. No photo yet, but I have high hopes.