Saturday, February 14, 2009

A Southern Exposure

The back of the gravel bank hill is steep and wooded. It faces south and receives sunlight flat on and full blast at this time of year. Gravel lies just below the surface here. Soil is thin so nothing grows in abundance. This princess pine peaks out above the leaf litter with no hint of snow or ice.

A clump of moss looks beautifully green amid the leaf litter and lichen covered stones. Although Ed took these pictures today while he was working outside, there is no clue that this is February. We can't actually say how long the snow has been gone from this south facing slope. It is not visible from the house and today was the first day that Ed happened over that way. Who knows how long these plants have been uncovered? How wonderful is is to see something so lovely and green at this time of year!

Today is a beautiful sunny day. It's still cold, but the warmth of the sun is growing stronger. A red tail hawk screeched from overhead, and we stopped to watch her soar upward into the blue sky on the rising air currents. It's so good to be able to play outside again, if only for a short time!

4 comments:

Gail said...

Hi Becky, This spot with the gravel underneath might be a perfect spot for a few Cedar Glade plants..Tennessee Coneflower might be happy there...It has a good taproot that seems to find its way through my limestone..there is a link at my blog if you want to check out glade happy plants!

gail

Gail said...

ps I love your header photo! gail

Anonymous said...

I love the beautiful, green clump of moss. Makes me want to use it for a pillow!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

I love moss. I am ready to let it take over the part of the lawn that is shady and moist rather than fight it and lose a battle every time.
Tatyana