Dad's Flowers
Apr. 19th, 2022 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureToday we visited Dad. He wanted to show me his flowers, so I took some pictures. :D He lives northeast of where I do.
This is the view from the deck looking south. That's riverbottom land. The house is on a narrow strip of upland at the edge of the fields, then there's a cliff about 20 feet high that slopes sharply down to the bottomland. Springs seep out at the base of the cliff. The whole area frequently floods. When I was younger, the space between our yard and the North Fork River was some idiot's field. Eventually it flooded enough that they gave up trying to grow crops down there, and it grew up into trees. Most of the trees in the yard are black walnut or buckeye, with a few sycamores scattered around. This looks like a mess, but it's fantastic riparian habitat full of birds and raccoons and other wildlife.
Here is a closer view of the bottomland part of the yard. Those clumps of yellow daffodils are almost 40 years old now. If you want long-lived daffodils, choose a plain yellow trumpet variety "for naturalizing" like these.
Those big leaves are skunk cabbage. The flowers appear before the leaves, and are very interesting, but the whole plant really reeks.
More daffodils and skunk cabbage.
Dad has a row of pots, and when not full of flowers, moss grows in them. You can pretty much put out any pot in partial to full shade and if you keep the soil wet, it'll grow moss. Ceramic is better at staying cool and moist than plastic though.
This moss is growing in a plastic trough atop the deck railing.
This old mat is covered with moss. Sometimes you'll find a mat that holds water well and doesn't repel plant life, and it'll come to life like this.
Here is a closeup of the moss on the mat.
Pink hyacinths are blooming on the terraces. When we moved in there, it was just a bare slope everywhere, and Dad built a succession of terraces over the years. The current ones are mostly brick.
These early tulips are already blooming at the southeast corner of the house.
These daffodils are blooming near the tulips.
This patch of mixed tulips is farther along the east side of the house.
This daffodil is blooming amidst the trees down the slope, and is likely a volunteer.
This is the view looking down the slope to the bottomland, toward the east end of the yard.
Here is a closer view of the bottomland.
This is the view looking even farther east. You can see more sycamores that way.
The slope is dotted with spring beauties and Dutchman's breeches.
Some of the spring beauties are up in the yard.
These Dutchman's breeches are toward the top of the slope.
This is the view of the slope toward the west end of the yard. That pale line through the trees is the road and field.
Most of this slope is covered in daffodils.
These are white daffodils, probably some ice follies, and some pink-trumpet daffodils below the terraces. Ice follies are another very long-lived daffodil.
This is a mix of yellow daffodils and various wildflowers.
More Dutchman's breeches are growing here. I'm not sure what the big strappy leaves are, but it's another of the spring ephemerals.
Buckeyes are leafing out.
Moss is growing on the top terrace.
This moss is growing on a wooden beam.
This is the view from the deck looking south. That's riverbottom land. The house is on a narrow strip of upland at the edge of the fields, then there's a cliff about 20 feet high that slopes sharply down to the bottomland. Springs seep out at the base of the cliff. The whole area frequently floods. When I was younger, the space between our yard and the North Fork River was some idiot's field. Eventually it flooded enough that they gave up trying to grow crops down there, and it grew up into trees. Most of the trees in the yard are black walnut or buckeye, with a few sycamores scattered around. This looks like a mess, but it's fantastic riparian habitat full of birds and raccoons and other wildlife.
Here is a closer view of the bottomland part of the yard. Those clumps of yellow daffodils are almost 40 years old now. If you want long-lived daffodils, choose a plain yellow trumpet variety "for naturalizing" like these.
Those big leaves are skunk cabbage. The flowers appear before the leaves, and are very interesting, but the whole plant really reeks.
More daffodils and skunk cabbage.
Dad has a row of pots, and when not full of flowers, moss grows in them. You can pretty much put out any pot in partial to full shade and if you keep the soil wet, it'll grow moss. Ceramic is better at staying cool and moist than plastic though.
This moss is growing in a plastic trough atop the deck railing.
This old mat is covered with moss. Sometimes you'll find a mat that holds water well and doesn't repel plant life, and it'll come to life like this.
Here is a closeup of the moss on the mat.
Pink hyacinths are blooming on the terraces. When we moved in there, it was just a bare slope everywhere, and Dad built a succession of terraces over the years. The current ones are mostly brick.
These early tulips are already blooming at the southeast corner of the house.
These daffodils are blooming near the tulips.
This patch of mixed tulips is farther along the east side of the house.
This daffodil is blooming amidst the trees down the slope, and is likely a volunteer.
This is the view looking down the slope to the bottomland, toward the east end of the yard.
Here is a closer view of the bottomland.
This is the view looking even farther east. You can see more sycamores that way.
The slope is dotted with spring beauties and Dutchman's breeches.
Some of the spring beauties are up in the yard.
These Dutchman's breeches are toward the top of the slope.
This is the view of the slope toward the west end of the yard. That pale line through the trees is the road and field.
Most of this slope is covered in daffodils.
These are white daffodils, probably some ice follies, and some pink-trumpet daffodils below the terraces. Ice follies are another very long-lived daffodil.
This is a mix of yellow daffodils and various wildflowers.
More Dutchman's breeches are growing here. I'm not sure what the big strappy leaves are, but it's another of the spring ephemerals.
Buckeyes are leafing out.
Moss is growing on the top terrace.
This moss is growing on a wooden beam.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-20 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-20 10:06 am (UTC)What a lively and interesting piece of land. My pup Pippin would love to sniff her way around those bottomlands.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-20 04:21 pm (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2022-04-20 05:21 pm (UTC)I see a few lichens too, mostly on rocks or trees.
I wish we had liverworts, but those really need a wetter area than we have.
I found a tiny sprig of fern in my yard while raking cut grass once, but I never did spot the original fern. My occasional attempts to plant native ferns haven't worked. But there's a volunteer one around here ... somewhere ... in the ritual meadow.
Yes ...
Date: 2022-04-20 05:23 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2022-04-20 05:49 pm (UTC)Some people make bath mats from live moss. Doing it outside is easier, you just need a substrate that will hold water and not kill moss. If I were trying to do this on purpose, I'd probably look for an organic doormat. A firmly braided rag or rope rug of natural fibers would probably work too.
https://www.etsy.com/market/moss_bath_mat
https://www.sunrisespecialty.com/how-to-make-a-moss-bath-mat
>> What a lively and interesting piece of land. My pup Pippin would love to sniff her way around those bottomlands.<<
Interesting is a good word for it. There isn't much usable yard, but it's fantastic habitat and cool to explore. Watching the birdfeeders is exciting. Pileated woodpeckers, blue jays, cardinals, nuthatches, tufted titmice, chickadees, etc.