Cades Cove Early Morning Drive

Yellow Goats beard dandelion growing in the fields

Cades Cove Early Morning Drive

Monday June 10, 2019

Dana Koogler 

Cades Cove Pictures starting with frame #106

  I got up early Monday morning with the express purpose of  taking a drive around the Cades Cove Loop Road.  I wanted to check for native orchids. I also wanted to gauge the bloom status of the heirloom gladiolas in the cove.  The forecast called for rain off and on today.  I came prepared for it.
I also came prepared so that if things cleared up I could stick around and do some hiking. 
I was pleasantly surprised to find the traffic light.  I was even more surprised to find that the few folks who were on the loop road were courteous and used the pull offs instead of taking pictures from the middle of the road.      I made record time getting round the loop.    Daylilies and butterfly weed were the flowers of the hour.   Lots of those.  You can see every shade of butterfly weed in the cove from deep red orange to a paler yellow orange.   I saw a few butterflies. One cloudless sulphur moth.
Many frittilaries.      I parked in a few spots and waded out through the fields to check out flowers.
I got me the requisite number of briar scratches. 

  The skies varied between clearing up to gray again.    The mountains at the edges of the cove looked pretty with the wisps of cloud before them.    Yucca plants bloomed in many locations through the fields of the cove. I saw gold finches, bluebirds, robins, sparrows, turkeys, and deer.  No bears today and no snakes.

 Deep red orange butterfly weed and blue mountains.

 Loads of daylilies!

 English plantain.. which I am now noticing as a valuable plant since I learned its benefits and started making salve from it!

 Wisps of cloud

 Yellow Goatsbeard dandelion freshly opened.

    Yarrow

 Daisy fleabane and wild onion heads

 bumblebee on butterfly weed

 Yellow butterfly weed

 Queen Anne's Lace

 Black eyed susans

Wild basil

 Dark and light shades of butterfly weed for comparison

Ragged fringed orchids!

 

 Above and below.. clearing skies?!!

 new to me.. Abrams Blush heirloom gladiola .  I don't know that is the real original name of the flower, but I am calling it that for my own sake til I learn otherwise.

 Need to go back to check to see if these bloom out on the other side of the tree!

    Ditch lilies is what some folks call these beauties, but you can see why!

Turkey Lurkey in the field

 Cherokee Rose

 Dark pink Seven Sisters Rose

 Yucca

 Yucca blossom

 Red Root aka New Jersey tea

 above and below.. rosebay rhododendron buds and bloom

 Above: Old barn and below old house on Lequire Road at the back of the cove toward Dry Valley

   All was well until I got round on the back of the loop when traffic gummed up and came to a halt.
I saw my chance and turned onto Hyatt Lane. I crossed the cove, turned onto Rich Mountain Road and exited that way.  While on the way toward home the skies opened and the rain poured down.
No more hiking today.   But I had a good time and didn't let the traffic or the weather harsh my mellow.

The Lily Barn 2017 Season

Close up of a pair of Water Goblin lilies 

The Lily Barn 2017 Season 

Dana Koogler

Friday June 30, 2017

Pictures are here starting with frame 179 

Lily Barn Pix

   I left the house on an overcast morning with my first goal being to GPS and photograph the 

heirloom gladiolas in Cades Cove. I was prepared to spend all day if necessary, but I did not believe

it was going to take that long.   I figured half day.  My plan was then to continue on to The Lily Barn

as I do nearly every Summer.   I could combine the two trips and make a full day of it.   

I stopped by Dollar General and bought rain gear and dry clothes.  I wiped off some of the mud. I put

on dry clothes and rain poncho. I toted my umbrella and waded out in the rain strolling around 

through the lilies.  The place was very pretty as usual.  

     The little stream flowing along the edge of the property near the road was full of minnows.

I saw dragonflies and damsel flies zipping around lighting on flowers and grass.  The lilies were not as plentiful as they have been other years.  I was very glad I took some of the photos I did in the past, because now it is no longer possible to shoot those scenes.   I love how they have old signs with lichen growing on them. They are hard to read though.  Some don't have names by them.   I also like how this place has several types of lilies that have old names. Joann Barbre.    They also have quite a few heirloom species of flowers.   

   Stream at The Lily Barn on the grounds.  

   

  I started with the lily fields first and then worked my way toward the rest of the grounds and the barn.  I looked at every single type and photographed nearly all of them.  It is a riot of color and a feast for the eyes.   I was dry in my rain gear and was protecting my camera with the umbrella.  

 

Ribbons of colorful lilies overspread the fields

Loved the lilies with rain drops.  

Lots of traditonal Hemerocallis fulva  their old name is Ditch lilies since they are frequently seen growing in roadside ditches.  They spread and naturalize.

 Corryton Pink is one of my favorites. Corryton is a town in north Knox County.   It is a town where the also famous Oakes Daylily Farm is located.   The difference is that you are only permitted to 

visit the Oakes Lily farm four weekends per year. They will allow garden club groups to schedule tours and appointments.  They are bigger outfit for sure. I'd like to go there next year. The Lily Barn doesn't mind you coming and visiting and walking any time as long as their is not an event going on.

I seldom see more than one other person here when I visit.  Great for tranquility and solitude.

     

          Above are pictured Blackberry Lilies.  They are a type of iris. They grow from bulbs. 

They are an old cultivar.  I consider these an heirloom species.  They also bloom at home sites in Cades Cove.   

 The Lily Barn has other things going for it besides beautiful cultivated types of flowers.

It is located in the Great Smoky Mountains and though it lies outside the boundaries of the National Park.. it has some of the same stuff there.  I was surprised to find Mountain camellias blooming by the stream in one spot.  It made the second new location for them this year.  

Stewartia ovata.. mountain camellia.   It requires rich,moist, loamy soil and shade to flourish.

It was growing by the stream.  The creek today was flowing beautifully making its music thanks to 

all the recent rain.  I saw several spots along it today that I felt compelled to just stand and gaze. I took lots of photos of various spots along it today.

Another lovely spot along the creek today.  Near where I found the camellias.  I loved all the vibrant greens and the shimmer of the water.   Sycamore trees hang their limbs down over this spot. I thought to myself that all I needed to make my life complete was a pair of patent leather church shoes to wade the creek in as I did when I was a little girl and my life would be complete.  :-D

   One of the neat things I saw today was a lady who was walking her dogs. She was training a pair of border collies on their commands.  They greeted me and I got to watch a little bit.  Beautiful dogs and very smart and friendly.   She was a nice person and interesting.  One of the things that came up in our conversation about the flowers and plants was the topic of Cades Cove. She had heard that the park service is cutting down some type of plant or wildflower species that the monarch butterflies need as a food source and egg laying source.  I told her I didn't know anything about that.  I do know that they have stopped grazing cattle, replanted native grasses, doing controlled burns, and stopped mowing as much. They have decided to permit native cane species thrive also.  I kinda got the feeling she either got some bad information or didn't know what she was talking about.  Everything that I've seen and read points in the exact opposite direction.

     

One of my favorite scenes from my walk here today.  The barn itself and the path leading up to it.
So many beautiful colors.  Rusty roof is one of my favorite colors. No kidding!

Here is another vignette I loved. The lichen crusted park bench in  quiet spot with the lone blackberry lily reaching toward it.  It is charming.

    

The lilies pictured above are called Spanish Harlem .  I love the name.


This is another heirloom variety of flower.  Italian Lords and Ladies. Arum italicum. It grows in many colors. White. Purple. Bright Yellow. Pale green.  They are pretty the entire time they are up for the year. The foliage is beautiful and interesting. The bloom is beautiful and long lasting. The berry pod is also bright red and attractive. It is easy to see why these have been around so long.



Here is another example of an heirloom flower. Lucifer Crocosmia is another old cultivar grown from bulbs. They originated in Africa like many types of gladiolas.  You see them here contrasting their bold red blooms against Blue Clips.  The blue clips bloom in Virginia in the mountains naturally.

Above is pictured Siloam Springs lily. It was first introduced in 1963 by Pauline Henry. She was an award winning gardener and originator of the Siloam lily.  They usually have a ruffled edge.

One last shot of a beautiful blending of colors and textures from along the paths.

  I highly recommend a stroll through the grounds of The Lily Barn.  They sell lilies on their website or you can buy them there.  They also sell perennials and native wildflowers.  

Cades Cove Heirloom Gladiolas 2017

Possibly Peter Pears Heirloom Gladiola 

Cades Cove Heirloom Gladiolas 

Friday June 30, 2017

Dana Koogler 

Pictures are here starting with frame 44 

 I have gotten more and more interested in heirloom flowers  in the past few years.  

Heirloom flowers are old varieties of ornamental flowering plants that are very old. 

They are often found continuing to bloom at home sites.  Sometimes the houses and buildings

still stand, but quite often flowers continue to bloom yearly long after the structures have 

totally disappeared.   I love the sense of history they convey. I also love the fact they have managed

to endure and continue to be beautiful long after the people who planted them are gone.

I am not sure how old a flower type has to be in order to be considered an "heirloom". 

I do know there are different schools of thought on the topic.  One group holds to the idea that

1945 the end of World War II is the cut off point since after that marked the widespread use of

garden hybrids.  Another group says 1951 is the absolute latest a flower can be from that can 

still be considered an heirloom. After that date marked even greater use of hybrid cultivars in

ornamental plants and flowers.   Growers and sellers of flowering plants develop their own

standards for what they will accept and consider an heirloom variety.  

First gladiola location around the Cades Cove Loop Road

This color is a beautiful peach shade. It IS but I have found a good bit of variability in the type.  Some are a darker more orange shade. Others are true peach. These have a flash of red down the throat.   I wondered if they were hybridizing? The answer is yes. They could be!  An heirloom has been naturally pollinated. On its own by bees or insects and not messed with by man. So that is very possible especially in the field where there were several shades that are both the true originals and then every shade between them!   The original flowers were probably Peter Pears 

        

   Heirloom flowers or vegetables are pure genetically. They produce the same resulting 

flower bloom or vegetable consistently.  They have not been modified genetically. Consequently

they are going to perform or fail on their own merits.  They will either be hardy and strong or 

have failings and not do well.   I have personally tried growing heirloom pumpkins and tomatoes.

I have had success with some and failure with others.  They can be frustrating to grow.

Attempting to grow heirloom vegetables in particular is a good way to be reminded of WHY 

they hybrid species were developed to start with!  It is generally to overcome the weaknesses 

of the breed.  For example a certain type of tomato may be prone to blossom end rot. 

Hybrid types are mixed breeds that have resistance to such diseases.     

Wild bergamot and Black eyed susans are other pretty Summer wildflowers in bloom now.

Another beautiful Summer wildflower that is great for the butterflies is the orange and yellow butterfly weed. It is a species of native milkweed.   If you see this growing in a field near your house 

you could dig up a little start of it and almost certainly get it to grow in your flower bed.  It is very hardy and will set seed and spread. It is mentioned in the Best Garden Plants for Tennessee book. (Click the link to see the book. It can be purchased many places including Amazon and the Cherohala Visitor Center)

            

   The focus today is the heirloom gladiolas in Cades Cove.  I have managed to 

identify four  of them definitively.  Many of these varieties of gladiolas are from such old stock their heritage has been lost. I am not sure in looking at the largest patch in Cades Cove that they are not hybridizing  on their own.  They are starting to remind me of the native hybridizing azaleas on Gregory Bald!    Growers of newer varieties of gladiolas know that the bulbs need to be dug up and placed in storage each Autumn before the first frost. We used to dig ours up each Fall. We'd let them dry a little and then put them in a paper bag in a dark shed or in the refrigerator drawer at home.
The old type gladiolas in Cades Cove are resistant to the cold and especially hardy.  They are mostly Abyssinian and tough as nails! (Abyssinia is the ancient name for Ethiopia on the continent of Africa)  They don't have to be dug and stored and replanted each Spring. They have multiplied and
spread on their own  because they bloom in zone 7.   Anything more northerly than that and they'd still have to be dug and stored and replanted to ensure they did not freeze and die.
I have seen them persist at old  home sites in zone 6 though.   I cannot help wondering if out in the woods in the park are more undiscovered home sites with these blooming?  It is fun to imagine. 

  

Below is a shot of the second location around the loop.  

   

      

    

Above is the largest patch of heirloom glads in Cades Cove and that I have ever seen anywhere.

The old time name for them was Sword Lilies.  They are quite tall. I'd say these are  3 1/2 to 4 feet tall from the ground to the tip.  They are supported and protected some by the surrounding vegetation especially the blackberry brambles.   You see represented here bolivian peach, boone, maid of the mist, carolina primrose, some I don't know the names of. Among them are many shades that are only a slight variation on the cultivar which I believe are naturally occurring hybrids.  It will be interesting

as I study them to see if the ones I believe natural hybrids produce the same colors and patterns year after year.  

the most amazing shades of coral

Shades of pink and peach tinged with yellow.

     

Sword lilies indeed!  

    Back during the time these bulbs were planted there was not as many kinds to pick from or outlets to buy things.  Folks didn't have a lot of spare money to buy pretty and un-necessary things like ornamental flowers.   These were probably someone's pride and joy back during their lifetime. 

Nearly all types of hardy plants that come from bulbs will multiply and need to be separated out 

at some point.  Doing this helps propagate them and preserves the species.  It is a good way for neighbors to give each other a nice present.  My great grandmother grew these every year. One of her favorites does not appear in Cades Cove. It is the old heirloom cultivar "Atom" which is fire engine red.   She had them growing at the margins of her vegetable garden.  Somewhere I have a photo of her standing by them wearing her poke bonnet.  She had a white father and a Native American mother.   She grew lots of the same sorts of things I see in the Cherokee Gardens on the Qualla 

Boundary.    She was a German Anabaptist..also known as  Brethren.  The Love Feast--Foot Washing in the Brethren Church 

      

Boone  is the name of this cultivar.

It's parent was Carolina primrose one one side and ?? on the other.   

    

One of many spots around the front of the loop road.  Across the road in the field were more of the same type.   I have placed GPS coordinates on all these locations and submitted them to Dana Soehn

the head ranger with the National Park Service for the Smokies.  She asked me to remind her each June 1st and she will see to it that the mowers do not cut these down.  

Yet another type on the way to the Elijah Oliver cabin.  

This is a one of a kind in the cove to my knowledge.

(This may be Gladiolus papilio "David Hills" )

Bonnie's Favorite Cascade on Mill Creek. Right next to Forge Creek Road.

I stopped here to enjoy the view. Near this spot are more heirloom glads!

Above and below are the two colors that grow near the cascade. A pink form and
a white form.  Both beautiful and both covered in rain drops.  The pink one may be one called Old Fort hardy gladiola cultivar. I have seen it in Old Fort NC and it can be purchased from Plant Delights Nursery and a few other specialty places.

gladiolus papilio hybrid .. with possibly an old abbyssinian glad to get the red streaks in the center. 

  I spent half a day hiking in the rain hunting these.  I was soaked to the skin by the time I was done.

I went to Dollar General and bought a pair of shorts, a t shirt, a rain poncho and an umbrella.

I drove out to Caylors Chapel and pulled into the parking lot. I changed clothes. I put on the poncho.

I drove out to The Lily Barn and finished up my day with my poncho and umbrella and dry clothing.

I will write up The Lily Barn entry next.  It was a rewarding and colorful day!

And of course since I purchased rain gear .. while at The Lily Barn the sun came out

and I was the proud owner of a sauna suit!   

  I wanted to include a groovy tune with this blog entry.  I could find nothing that pertained to gladiolas or heirloom flowers that I liked.  I added a favorite tune from a favorite band.
Stephen Stills of CSN& Y 1974... singing Johnny's Garden.  It suits the mood of the day perfectly.
Mellow and happy.  Enjoy.

**If you know of any heirloom flower locations in the Smokies within the park or in our area.. please do not hesistate to bring them to my attention.  I'd love to get some photos and learn more about them.   You can email me dkoogler@gmail dot com