Red Roses for a Blue Lady

 

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Photos taken with my iPhone SE at Friendship Manor in Roanoke, VA

Warmer Weather

The snow and ice are gone, and now we have temperatures that are too warm for this time of year.

But thankfully, we also have things greening up, and a little yellow to make things cheerful. Thank goodness for daffodils.

Heart-leaved Aster

This delicate lavender-flowered plant nestled against the embankment appears to be Symphyotrichum cordifolium, commonly known as heart-leaved aster. It’s a native wildflower in the eastern U.S., often blooming in late summer to fall—just when the leaves begin to drop. Here are a few clues that support the ID:

Leaves: The lower leaves tend to be heart-shaped (hence the name), while upper leaves are more lance-like.

Flowers: Small, daisy-like blooms with pale purple to lavender rays and yellow centers that fade to reddish as they age.

Habitat: Thrives in woodland edges, rocky slopes, and disturbed areas—like the embankment in your image.

Seasonal context: The fallen leaves and earthy tones suggest autumn, which aligns with its bloom time.

It’s a quiet beauty, often overlooked but deeply resilient.

Flowers

 

Yay! Daffodils!

 

They Last Forever

 

These daffodils came from an old homestead. I dug them up about 35 years ago from the spot where someone's house once stood, and who knows how long ago they were there. The house had been gone for at least 100 years, the neighbors said.

I've moved the flowers once since I first planted them. They come up every year. The time they stay in bloom depends on the weather, but they always bloom. 

They're a little speck of sunshine on the edge of the tree line at my house.

I love them.

Mums the Word

In 2009, I purchased some dying mums from Home Depot. They were yellow. They didn't really look like mums to me, but I thought they were worth the 50 cents or whatever I paid for them.

I planted them in my whiskey barrel in my rose bed.

They flourished there. I did not expect them to live.

I especially did not expect them to be around 14 years later.

Nor did I expect them to change color.

But here they are in all their glory today!

Obviously, they are no longer yellow. Over the years they have gone from yellow to purple to this deep maroon.

Flowers

 

Flowers

 

Dandelions and . . . Daisies?

I took these pictures in the yard the other day before my husband mowed. Dandelions are common and most folks try to irradicate them from their yards. I tend to leave them alone. They aren't hurting anything.

Dandelions are flowering plants that belong to the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America but have been introduced to other parts of the world. They have many uses as food, medicine, and ornamental plants. (Bing AI)

The white flower I think many people would call a daisy, but it's actually fleabane. Fleabane belongs to the aster family. Some of it is native to North America and some is not. The flowers bloom from spring to fall and utilize a variety of habitats. Fleabane can be cooked as greens and is used to treat various ailments. (Bing AI)

One of my most hurtful memories involves dandelions. When I was quite small, I thought them beautiful, and I picked a handful to take to my mother. She immediately declared it a weed and threw them in the trash. I don't recall ever picking another flower for my mother again.

I still find dandelions beautiful. They're so happy looking, with their yellow color, and then they are fun when they've gone to seed. One hardy blow upon them and the seeds fly through the sky like magic.

Redbud & Hyacinth

 

I brought hyacinths with us from the house we were renting from my husband's grandmother when we built this one in 1987. I planted them out front, where I had a flower bed. When we first moved here, I had lots of flower beds. I don't have any now.

But the hyacinths continue to come up anyway.

The redbud tree really makes spring pop around here. That brilliant pink color is everywhere, and it is a delight to see it. I love looking up through a tree at the pink with a blue sky.

Mellow Yellow

Spring came a month early, but March is looking like a cold demon child from the long-range forecasts. I don't know how this will play out with the fruits, flowers, trees, and veggies. But everything is almost a month early.

But isn't the yellow pretty?

An Early Spring

I looked outside yesterday and noticed a little color had crept into the world of the winter:

My daffodils are up and blooming. Those green shoots around them are my irises. Just look at all of those blooms coming on the daffodils! It should be a sea of yellow if the warm weather continues.

It is looking like Spring will be here before we know it.

Dandy and a Pansy

 

Flowers

 

Periwinkle

I ran across this patch of periwinkle* in the hollow of the lower pasture next to the woods. I thought it a strange place to find a flower I normally associated with a house garden but have since learned it is considered an invasive plant now, having "escaped" from old homesteads and gardens and now flourishing freely along highways and forest edges.

It's still a pretty ground cover, but I will leave it at the edge of the woods and not move it up near the house.

*At least, I think it's periwinkle.

Pretty Flowers