The Cranesville Swamp, Part 1

 

Entering the Cranesville Swamp

Towards the end of a very rainy period in late May, a friend and I decided to visit the Cranesville Swamp. We'd  missed the walk in early May during the West Virginia Wildflower Festival, and wanted to see this unusual botanical site. Straddling the edge of western Maryland and upper WV, this site is considered botanically unique because it's a "frost pocket", where the cold mountain air collects, making for a much colder environment than its latitude would indicate. The poorly-draining soil has created a classic high-altitude bog that contains some very unusual plants.

 

Hemlock forest

 

The woods leading up to the boardwalk of the bog were lush--mostly tall hemlocks and white pine, with remnants of a red spruce forest that was heavily logged up until the 1950's. Today, hundreds of red spruce saplings have been planted by the Nature Conservancy, who owns the site, in an effort to restore the original forest.

 

Large specimen of red spruce.

 

There are several varieties of club mosses found in this forest: ground cedar (Lycopodium digitatum), Tree clubmoss ( Lycopodium obscurum), which we photographed--the two others we probably saw, but could not identify.

 

Tree Club Moss (Lycopodium obscurum) with wild strawberry

Ground cedar (Lycopodium digitatum)

 

Patches of tiny Bluets bloomed among the wild strawberries covering the ground, and White Beakrush here and there.

 

 

 

Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) and wild strawberries

 

White Beakrush (Rhynchospora alba)

 

 

 Cinnamon ferns abounded in the moist forest, with lady ferns and Oak ferns.

 

 

 

Cinnamon ferns (Osmunda cinnamomea)

 

Oak ferns (Gymnocarpium dryopteris) among club mosses

 

Butterfly among ferns

 

After a short walk through the forest, the trees cleared out and we were out in the open, arriving at the Cranesville Swamp. 

End of Part 1, see next post for Part 2.

 

 

May 2026 Bloom day

 

White iris

I's been such a cruel spring this year, with drought and wild swings in temperatures in my Zone 6B Virginia garden! The mid-April frost coming after an abnormally warm week not only blasted the emerging leaves and buds from my flowering trees, but the irises that were in spike as well. Only the patch of irises in the front yard, protected by the house, managed to bloom. As of a few days ago only the white ones, later than the rest, persisted. My peonies, which would be blooming about now, have only a few viable buds, and are late.

Me too--I'm late with this May Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog, because I was taking an intense in-person painting workshop for four days, and had no time to write or post my photos. What you see were taken last week and/or some days ago; welcome to my May garden, such as it is.

 

Amaryllis on the porch

 

The Amaryllis I got as a gift a couple of Christmases ago re-bloomed, and decorates my front porch. In the front yard a friend found and brought me some lovely rocks to build up a border edge for the bed under the trees, and I think it adds a little something to the overall look.

 

Front yard with new stone edging

I like to plant some annuals in this front bed in an effort to camouflage the dying foliage of the daffodils and have something growing there during the summer, but usually deer come and eat most of the plants anyway. This year I'm hoping to foil them with a new deer repellent, but its effectiveness remains to be seen. I bought a few new perennials to add to the Gaillardia I planted a few years ago--a blue-flowered Lithodora, and a blue Pincushion flower (Scabiosa) at the edges of the trees where they'll get some sun.  

Recently I planted three bare-root Astilbes under the dogwood tree to the left, but they'll take a while to emerge and bloom during the summer. I'll probably plant some Coleus later on when the daffodil foliage has died out completely.

 

Lithodora

 

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' getting ready to make a show

Blue Pincushion flower (Scabiosa)

My Viburnum 'Brandywine'  on the east side of the house did not sustain any damage, but the climbing rose 'New Dawn' and Clematis 'Etoile Violette' don't look very happy in the prolonged drought, with leaf miners blighting the rose. Neither does the Filicoides Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa filicoides). Only the dwarf blue spruce seems to have retained its normal lovely spring foliage.

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine' with blue spruce, Hinocki cypress and 

 

In the east woodland garden all three Japanese maples and the Virginia Fringe tree were blighted and are only now starting to put forth some foliage, but surely there won't be any flowers here this year. The flowers of the two Rhododendrons and the Pagoda dogwood were also blighted. Usually this part of my garden is so lovely during this season, but this year, only the 'Blue Barlow' columbines, which have spread everywhere, are blooming. 

 

'Blue Barlow' Columbines

Rhododendron 'Southgate Brandi' under Japanese maple 'Bloodgood'

I keep adding native plants to my woodland garden: this spring some wild ginger under the Carolina Silverbell tree, next to the Pink Turtlehead planted last year. And, I finally bought a reasonably-priced Helleborus niger, which I planted between the Japanese Full Moon maple and the Virginia Fringe tree. I acquired one bare-root plant of Trillium grandiflora I hope to plant as soon as I find some time.

Moving down to the back yard, the Foxglove Pentstemons are proving indestructible, and the Ninebark Tree 'Coppertina' in the badlands has some decent blooms, though not like in other years.

 

Foxglove Pentstemon

Ninebark Tree 'Coppertina'

 

A nice surprise in the back bed--one of the Snapdragons I planted last year survived the winter and is blooming--it seems taller this year, and definitely taller than the ones I just planted, which I think are exactly the same variety. I've learned that deer don't eat Snapdragons, so they're a  good choice for my garden. So is Verbascum. 

  

Snapdragons

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

The red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' has been very floriferous, and providing nourishment for the hummingbirds migrating north. The native red Columbines also attract the hummers.

 

Red Honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler'

 

Red Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis)

Another shrub that won't be flowering this year is the Philadephus 'Cheyenne'; the shrubs in that bed are so sad-looking! The Beautyberries died down to the ground and are just starting to re-sprout from their bases. The Honeylocust tree was looking dead, but seems to be sprouting some foliage now. Not worth photographing.

On the west side of the house the Salvia "May Night' is blooming with the round-leaved Coreopsis. The pink-flowered Sweetspire (Clethra alnifolia) behind the deer barrier is re-sprouting, but the Clematis I planted there last fall was eaten right down to the ground. Probably not a bad thing--this site is too hot for the 'Betty Corning' Clematis I'd purchased on sale. I bought a replacement, but I'm still trying to figure out where to plant it out of the reach of the deer, where the fragrance can be enjoyed.

 

Salvia 'May Night' with Coreopsis

Clematis montana 'Appleblossom'

The other Clematis on this side of the house has not performed well either--only a few blooms this spring. It badly needs pruning, but that will have to wait until after it's finished blooming.

This morning I spent an hour digging up a dead Ilex bush that was in front of the Clematis, preparing the ground for a new shrub--a dwarf Smokebush. It was back-breaking work in this heat (the outdoor thermometer is marking 96 degrees F as I write), digging up big rocks and the yellow clover taking over--I'm getting too old for this! I wish I could afford to hire two laborers to do this stuff for me, but my budget doesn't permit it, so I try to enjoy it, despite the backaches.

 

Dutch Iris

Purple Dutch Iris

 

The pale Dutch Iris flowers also got blighted, but the later-blooming purple ones are making a good show now. The Allium Moly is always dependable.

 

Allium  moly

 

 That's about it for now, awaiting rain. Thanks for visiting!

 

Early May

Iris in the front yard

 

It's been a crazy spring, with unseasonable heat spells in late March and early April, and two killing frosts in-between. The emerging flower buds and leaves of the trees were blasted by the first frost, only to be burned again as they were starting to recover and resume growth. The worst-hit were my Japanese maples and the Redbuds, which are still looking very sad.  Many other trees too--the lack of rain hasn't helped.

My iris blooms are much reduced this spring--the patch of yellow bearded iris on the left of the driveway was brimming with flower spikes getting ready to open, even the Dutch iris. The other varieties in the back yard--'Victoria Falls,' 'Blatant,' and the old-fashioned iris from my mother's garden were just putting out their flowering spikes when the second frost hit, and were all blighted--I cut off the pathetic-looking, desiccated stalks. The only flowers to survive were in this small patch right in front of the house.

 

Bicolor iris

 

Yellow iris

White iris

A small patch of mom's old-fashioned iris growing under the stairs to the deck was protected enough to survive--not exactly a scenic setting, but the scent is lovely.

 

Mom's old-fashioned iris under the back stairs

 

At this time of the year, the east woodland garden is usually remarkably beautiful, with the Virginia Fringe tree in bloom against the pinkish-yellow of the Full Moon maple, 'Blue Barlow' columbines, and the Pagoda Dogwood getting ready to bloom. The 'Berry Poppins' hollies in this bed also got blasted, it may take them the rest of the season to recover enough to put out some leaves. This year, with the fringe tree denuded of its buds, and the burnt foliage of the Japanese maples, only the columbines are blooming, making for a much diminished display.

 

'Blue Barlow' Columbines

 

Dwarf Colorado Blue Spruce

In all, I have fewer flowers than usual for this time of the year, when my garden normally looks its best. One Rhododendron in the woodland garden had a few buds, but it's doubtful that they'll open--they seem to be damaged.

 

Salvia 'May Night'

There are some Salvias and a yellow flower whose name I forget blooming on the west side of the house. 

My 'Coral Charm' Peony put out four blossoms a week or so back, but their glory was short-lived, and the blooms are now gone. I hope my other peonies, which bloom later, will put on a better display, but who knows?

 

Peony 'Coral Charm'

 

I hope we'll get a good tropical rainstorm soon, so that my garden can begin to recover from this very cruel spring!

 

April 2026 Bloom Day

White-haired Leatherleaf flower (Clematis albicoma)

 

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, the 15th of the month is the day when we share what's blooming in our gardens, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. Welcome to my Zone 6B Virginia garden!

The month of April started out normally, but has been unseasonably hot and dry, with a killing frost just as the new flower buds and leaves of many plants were emerging, causing a lot of damage in my garden. My cherished Carolina Silverbell tree was budding out when its tiny bells were blasted by the frost. Ditto for the yellow Magnolia 'Butterflies' and  'Viridis' Japanese maple, so sad! That's two years in a row that we've had such killing frosts.

Thus it was a lovely surprise to see  the flowers of my White-haired Leatherleaf flower (Clematis albicoma) pop up in the front garden. The plant seems to be doing well in its half-buried pot in the flower bed. This native plant is found in the wild in only a few counties in Virginia and West Virginia.

The Kwanzan cherry is about finished blooming, and so are the daffodils and Poet's Narcissi but the creeping Phlox seems to be spreading nicely--from just three plants of different colors that I put in some years ago, its is re-seeding itself all over under the tree. 

 

My front yard yesterday

 

The Jacob's Ladder in the east woodland garden is also finishing its flush of spring bloom, while the Foamflower (Tiarella) is starting its display.

 

Jacob's Ladder with one Mayapple.

Foamflower (Tiarella 'Sugar 'n Spice')

 

My Hellebores are looking blowsy and a bit faded in the heat, and a few spikes of Ajuga 'Black Scallop' are showing under the Japanese maple tree 'Bloodgood'.

 

Hellebore 'True Love'

Ajuga 'Black Scallop' 

 

The daffodils and Narcissi in the back bed are about done flowering, as is the Redbud tree. The double-flowering Quince is coming into its own.

 

My back yard from the deck 

Flowering Quince with juniper 'Anna's Ball'

The possum-haw Viburnums (I have two) blooming way in back have reached a respectable height, out of the deer's reach. Yesterday a dear friend came over with her power saw and we cut down out a patch of Japanese bush honeysuckle from this corner of the woods in back. This invasive plant was threatening to choke out the patch of native witch-hazels growing back there. With those now gone, nature's balance can be restored.

 

  

Possum-haw viburnum (Viburnum nudum)

 

The irises and peonies are starting to develop buds, but not ready to open yet--a week or two more for those.

 

A friend gave me this lovely arrangement of Pansies and Candytuft to decorate my back deck, and I had also bought more Pansies for another pot. The deer eat these mercilessly, so growing them in pots is the only way for me to enjoy them.

 

  

 

Pansies and Iberis arrangement

More Pansies

 

I have a few blooms indoors, African violets and such, but I've posted photos of these for several months, so I'll spare everyone here. With such a dry spell, I'm having to water my garden a lot just to try to keep everything alive, if not flourishing. Thanks for visiting!