Spring Around ! ! !
Thanks to the Department of Transportation the right-of ways of north Florida are bursting with wildflowers. The practice of seeding the roadsides serves several purposes. First and foremost is the beauty. The picture below was taken right in front of my house on the right-of-way. It is a pleasure to drive up to the house and be welcomed by a carpet of loveliness. It saves on mowing since it is left alone from seeding to blooming to ripening, when it is then cut and the mature seeds fall to the ground to return next year. And it is just darn better all around!
Clover and yellow Oxalis
Below is a native azalea that grows under a tall water oak. A very successful plant with little to no care.
This pink oxalis is not a native but it will certainly naturalize. It grows at the "bottom" of a bay window like a pretty pink collar. For most of the year it is quite beautiful, however, when it gets really hot, say in July and August, it will almost completely disappear and you will think it died. But...as soon as the first cooling breezes flow across it like a healing breath, it comes to life and grows again to its former splendor. It can be divided easily.
Pink Oxalis
A native nectar plant for humming birds, the columbine thrives in limestone soils. It actually occurs naturally to the west of Tallahassee in the Marianna area, where you can see hundreds at a time. The blooms look like hanging bells topped with five characteristic spurs. They are reddish with an orange cast, like most flowers that attract hummers.
Columbine
Ever since I first came to Tallahasse, twenty one years ago, I have been drawn to a very common but overlooked ramblin' bramble. It grows everywhere! I look forward to its every development. In the spring, the small, bright, white flowers announce its presence after a dormant winter. New reddish green, bristly vines spread rapidly. More horizontal than vertical. One might wonder why these robust vines, that look healthier than the older vines, don't produce. They actually are next year's producers. You can even trim and train them as you please, as I did one year on a fence. The flower petals then drop off and fruit begins to form. The berry looks like a blackberry and we must watch carefully, for the birds and other animals are just as fond of them as we are. When we see the moment of ripening, we descend upon the area of bounty and pretend we are livin' off the land! These vines are more often looked upon as weeds. The unaware, development entrusted, and their ward heelers do not see this important wildlife food source as worth saving. But don't fear! This rambly bramble will survive!
Winter | Spring | Summer | Fall