Mountain Laurel Blooming

All around the Luck Cabin, there is mountain laurel bursting open, with clusters of white flowers. When they very first open they smell so sweet and good. Then the flowers slowly fall to the ground like white confetti, in a way so natural brides wish they could recreate such simple beauty down their wedding aisle, but could never compare.
I like it, alot.
XOXOxooxxox

Spring Sprung, Life At The Luck Cabin

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Spring stuff coming up.
(the music and background noise mixed together in a way i didn't intend... and got a little creepy.)



xoxo

TALL Orange Wildflower With Dark Brown Dots (Help Me ID!)

What is it? This plant I found near my cabin is awesome! At least 5-6 ft. tall!!! One big flower grows on the end of the long stem....

The steman (dingies in the middle) pertrudes far out the center of the orange flower --- the petals are actually turning backwards away from the center, which makes it look more exotic.

The leaves go in perfect circles around the stem- and are long and thin. Each circle of leaves is about 5 inches apart, and towards the top they spread out into one here and there.

Is this plant native to Western North Carolina? Can anyone help me figure out what this plant's name is???

Xoxoxox

Help Me Identify This Plant!

Hey ya'll! You are so good at helping me identify plants & trees I don't know, I thought I'd ask my special detective readers to help me out again!

This time we have this totally Nightmare Before Christmas, dark and striking striped flower in a deep brown, purple, maroon type color contrasted by the more icy yellow green lines.
It's leaves are hanging down (may be because spring is still in it's early chilly stages here) - but each flower comes from a thick watery stem (resembling the stem of a blood root) and one set of the three leaves on a separate stem.
Pictured below, it is growing underneath a large violet colored trillium. These striped beauties are growing in a group together, in a shady area. I have this vague memory from back 7 years ago when I lived in Bethel, NC that a woman who loved native plants showed me one of these and called it Jack In The Pulpit?

Ya'll tell me what it is.... :)
xoxoxo

Western North Carolina Trillium Part 3

I found another trillium species at my house!!!

This one has dark green, red tone tinted leaves with a pure white flower with dark pink bursting center, mild stripes coming from the middle.
Xoxoxo

Western North Carolina Trillium

Don't they look like happy little dragons? Or maybe a dancer twirling her skirt?

Such emotional flowers with so much character, you pretty much can see into your own soul by guessing what you think they are thinking. (Just like most of the things we interpret in life...)
I found ones with white flowers and ones with violet/maroon colored flowers! Have ya'll seen these bloom yet at ya house?

PS- If you are local to Western North Carolina, there is an herb festival every year in Asheville, NC that sells all sorts of native plants for your garden, including the trillium pictured here!

"The WNC Chapter of the NC Herb Association represents the incredibly wide variety of herbalists and herb businesses in North Carolina: herb growers and vendors, natural gardening and landscaping specialists, and makers of herbal ointments, balms, soaps, teas, medicines, and other products. We hope you’ll join us and more than 25,000 other herb lovers when we celebrate our 21st annual Asheville Herb Festival April 30th, May 1st and 2nd, 2010, at the WNC Farmers Market." :)

XoXo