Yucca at night

Leah gave me this yucca a few years ago and the first year I had it in the ground but I wasn't satisfied with where I put it so I moved it to a pot. Yucca is an incredibly tough plant so it's perfect in a container with it's spiky foliage.
These showy white blooms have been awesome to watch and especially nice to see in the dark. Everyday I get more excited as it comes into full bloom.

Dirt Bath

My chickens like to take dirt baths to keep cool and to keep insects off their skin. This was a great shot because usually I see 1 bird in the hole at a time but they've all come together with their chicks to cool off in the dirt.

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'

I'm proud of my smooth hydrangeas. I bought them as 1 gallons and they grow so fast. The blooms are attractive as they start out a lime-green before opening to white. Mine tolerate a mostly sunny area with a little shade. I trim them back to a few inches in the winter and they quickly flush back out in the spring.

Matelea carolinensis - Carolina Milkvine

My Aunt Sue found this neat little native vine growing in the woods by the lake. It is herbaceous with fuzzy, heart shaped leaves and chocolate colored blooms. I had never seen this vine before so I'm proud that my Aunt found it.

Chicken Family

My hens went broody at the same time and started sitting together so I have 4 mom's for the 6 chicks. 2 japanese, 1 cochin, and 1 salmon faverolle hen. They are attentive to all 6 chicks regardless of who hatched who. All 6 chicks are eating and they had their first adventure outside of their shed yesterday. I found them all digging around in the dirt. This is 100 time easier than trying to raise chicks from an incubator and a lot less work!

Chicks

Here's the first 4 -- there are 4 bantam sultan chicks and 2 bantam ameraucana chicks. It will be awhile before I can sex them. Chicks can go 48 hours without food or water after coming out of the shell but I went ahead and introduced them to water on the first day and they seemed very glad to have it.

Spring Chicken

4 of my hens have been sitting on fertile eggs that I ordered online and 4 of them hatched Wednesday during the day and I found them when I got home from work. 2 more hatched later on. This is one of the first.

Iris

I found this dark purple/black iris a few years ago but it never bloomed until this year but I got several blooms off this one stalk. The foliage is nice most of the summer but the true excitement is in the bloom. Though too dark to be considered showy this velvet-like flower draws me in and I look forward to having a mass of them some day. Don't ask me to divide it just yet!

Ajuga reptens - Carpet Bugle

Ajuga is one of my favorite groundcovers and I welcome it to spread out and grow. This one was in my neighbors yard and they mowed it down every year and I got a little piece of it and it's grown so quickly. The purplish foliage is nice all year long as it creeps up on the rock edging. I have it mixed with Lysimachia.

Autumn Fern

I rescued these ferns from the clearance rack at Home Depot back in February. I cut back all the old foliage and the new bronze foliage has come out. Eventually it will turn a light green and will keep its color all winter long. This is one of my favorite evergreen ferns and it's very inviting along my path in filtered sun.

Azalea

This is the time of year for most of the common azaleas to be in full bloom. I usually not fond of the bright pink and red azaleas but you have to admit this truly catches the eye. My best advice for planting azaleas is to stick with 1 or 2 colors and keep them grouped together for a maximum show in the spring. They prefer filtered sun and great drainage (air to the roots/loose soil) is the key to success.

Baptisia alba - White Wild Indigo

This is a native perennial here in the southeast and grows 2-3 feet tall. I like it because the stems are dark and purple and then these amazing racemes of white flowers appear lasting about a month. The foliage is very soft and stays nice all summer long. This plant grows best in full sun and can often be found blooming in the wild this time of year.

Daffodils

These are mid-late blooming daffodils that are the last ones we have blooming at my parents home. They were planted around an old home place that is no longer there. The small white flowers are very different from the larger yellow daffodils that finished blooming a few weeks ago in the same spot. It's always a good idea to mix different varieties of daffodils to extend your bloom period. They come in early, mid, and late blooming varieties.

Remains of Childhood Hut

This is all that's left of the old hut I kept for many years in the woods. This is the rotting stump of an old loblolly pine tree. When I found this pine (a long time ago) it was growing in a very strange shape as if something had held it down and then it grew back up. It had a strange curve that no regular tree had and I knew I must take advantage of this rare find. There is another large tree close by with a low fork in the trunk so with these 2 trees I was able to build a hut. I cut small trees down with my ax and I created a roof and 3 walls. I filled in between the walls and roof with smaller branches and straw. The hut was small but it held me and my dogs comfortably. I had trails that led to the hut and then down the hill, across the creek to my grandmothers home.

Wild Iris

When I created all these trails in the woods behind my parents home I kept them raked and lined them limbs. I also planted wild flowers that I found in different areas. This iris was planted in a patch next to many other plants that haven't bloomed yet next to my old fort.

Native Azaleas

These are the azaleas that were blooming all around my trails. I most often find them growing near creek banks.

Tree Fungus

Yesterday I was at my parents home and I took a little walk in the woods to explore the places I used to spend my time. I walked along all the old trails I made and found 2 large trees had fallen near the creek across my old trail. This tree fungus is common in the decay process but I think it has it's own special beauty.

Chickens

It's really amazing how much these birds can eat.

Chickens

My chickens are very excited about the fresh fescue -- it's the first thing they start eating when I let them out of their pen -- i'm trying to teach them to go for the weeds instead!

Birdie on the Redbud