I don’t know about y’all, but I’m getting excited for the return of wildflowers.  

In Southern Appalachia, we’ve had a real winter this season with long, extended cold snaps and a couple of good, region-wide snow and ice storms. Now we’re looking at a few weeks of warmer weather ahead, and in mid-February that means the emergence and bloom of the first of the spring wildflowers. 

When you see a plant growing, flowering and fruiting in a garden, field, forest or pot you’re only seeing a part and not the whole. Much of the plant exists below the ground in the soil in the form of roots. It’s common to think that half of the plant is aboveground — stems, flowers and leaves — and half is below the ground in the roots, but this is not true across the board. 

Gardeners perhaps haven’t started planning yet, but N.C. State Extension Master Gardener volunteers are available to answer questions about lawns, vegetables, flowers, trees and ornamental plants; disease, insect, weed or wildlife problems; soils (including soil test results) and fertilizers; freeze and frost damage; and cultural and chemical solutions to pest problems. 

In unmown yards and along roadsides across the mountains, there will sprout a delightful fall treasure that is among the last native wildflowers to bloom in the season. Ladies’ tresses orchids (Spiranthes spp.) spiral their way out of the ground to grow in full sun, even as the seasonal changes bring lower and less intense sunlight. 

The full light of the summer solstice arrives and aligns with the vegetative growth period of mid-summer. Spring wildflowers have passed at all but the highest elevations, and only the earliest summer flowers have started to bloom.

The Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society will host its annual Rose Exhibition at The North Carolina Arboretum in the Education Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 24 and 25.

This two-day event showcases the diverse range of roses grown by Rose Society members and at local gardens. 

If you are driving or walking in the woods in the higher elevations of Western North Carolina at this time of year, you may be treated to the most beautiful explosion of deeply pink azalea flowers blooming in profusion all throughout the woods. And it’s not just any old azalea, but it’s a special and rare species that are often be taken for granted. 

Do you have a gardening question? NC State Extension Master Gardener volunteers are available to answer your questions about lawns, vegetables, flowers, trees and ornamental plants; disease, insect, weed or wildlife problems; soils (including soil test results) and fertilizers; freeze and frost damage; and cultural and chemical solutions to pest problems. 

Lake Junaluska’s Spring Plant Sale will be 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at the Nanci Weldon Memorial Gym.  

For sale will be a few thousand plants, including an assortment of annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables, hanging baskets and several varieties of native plants from the Corneille Bryan Native Garden, said Melissa Marshall, Lake Junaluska director of grounds. 

Among the earliest flowering members of the Aster Family (Asteraceae) is the robin’s plantain (Erigeron pulchellus). Around Cullowhee, the robin’s plantain begins blooming in early April at lower elevations and can be seen blooming at higher elevations into June.