What a gorgeous spring day we had today here at the Covenstead! I'm so excited to see that my Star Magnolia and Butterfly Magnolia trees are popping with flowers. The Star Magnoia is a soft, gentle pinkish-white with the most fragrant, sweet blooms you can imagine. The Butterfly Magnolia is a gorgeous yellow and has a sweet lemon fragrance. I purchased and planted it about a year after my grandmother passed away in honor of her.

I have an app called Picture This that helps identify plants that I don't recognize. It seems the birds and other wildlife love to leave seeds that sprout leaving me surprised with new finds year after year. The screenshot of the Star Magnolia details is an example of how it works: take a photo and the app will identify! It only works on species it's familiar with, however. In the case of the Butterfly Magnolia, it wasn't able to properly identify it. Likely because it is a cross cultivar that has yet to be added to their system. Imperfect, but very fun to play with on a hike or even wandering your own garden.