What Are They?

Back towards the woods, we have a Big Swamp bit of a boggy area...along with a little clear stream...well, what with havin' several dogs that love nothing better than running/rolling/digging in dirt and mud, that area has become off-limits to the four-legged children...well, maybe they love animal crackers better than that...but only if it hasn't been raining for 40 days and 40 nights...if the rain is present, then they much more love gettin' filthy and trackin' into my kitchen...

we fenced it off with cattle wire so I'm not often back there...but I've been tuckin' in some things here and there...plants that like moisture and a good bit of shade...

but before I show you a Big Surprise (well, if you're a gardener...and if you live in the Lower or Coastal South) there are few things I'd like to ask ya'll about...

first...is this a white trout lily? I noticed these for the first time this year...

next...is this just a Big Ol' Weed? I hope not...I think it is lovely...and what type of fern is this? I know nothing about ferns...and not much about native plants although I'm tryin' hard to learn about and plant natives when possible...

however...having said that about the native plantings and all...here is My Big Garden Surprise...

Guess what sweet darlin' plant she is (little hint given in the wording of that sentence)...I know...hard to tell with that washed out crummy photo...my 6-month sabbatical from blogging was obviously not spent learning how to take better pixs...

another hint...if you live below, say, Macon, Georgia or Dublin, Georgia...or really even in those places, you'd never think you could grow this species of plant...maybe with a ton of extra work...

anyhoo...I spotted her at GSU's Botanical Garden spring plant sale last year and thought they'd just lost their minds...but decided I would try to grow this plant...because I've always wanted to grow ______s but simply thought the climate made that a pipe dream...

[VeryBigGrin]

okay...that is a Lilac...I know...I didn't believe it either...a Miss Kim lilac*, to be exact...and can you stand it? She is just bloomin' away...and the scent...well, the scent is everything I dreamed a lilac would smell like...

like the first time you step into a warm southern night and smell wisteria...and understand what all those old-timey writers go on and on about in their quaint novels...

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*note the zones listed for Miss Kim on the nursery website...I know**...

**I always feel a little like Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail when I say I know...