Native Ferns are very abundant in Sunshine Hollow.  We have identified at least ten native species.  We are also adding more Hardy Native Ferns to our Garden areas as well as Non-Native varieties.  The Fern Gully Trail leads the visitor thru an area of the Hollow that has many wild ferns such as Maiden Hair Fern, Christmas Fern, Cinnamon Fern and Lady Ferns.

There are two times of the year that Native Wildflowers are most abundant, Spring and Fall.  Spring brings hundreds of Spring Beauties, Foam Flowers, wild violets, wild iris, pink lady slippers and others to add beauty to the trail areas in the Spring.

Wildflowers are displayed on other plants beside perennials and annuals too.  One of the beautiful trees here in the Hollow is the Tulip Poplar the Tennessee State Tree.  It is covered in magnificence blooms in the Spring that Bees and other insects go wild over.  The honey made at this time of year is called Tulip Poplar.  Another native shrub that blooms at this time of the year is the American Buckeye.  It has very interesting blooms and in Fall a black glossy seed that is considered to be "Good Luck" to carry with you.  The Native Huckleberry also blooms it white blossoms before setting fruit in the Summer.

Peonies add some real class to the Spring landscape as their huge blooms billow over their glossy green foliage.

Probably Dave's favorite flower, the Rose also begins its annual march to beauty in the Late Spring before the Daylily or Dahlia have even thought of beginning to shine.  Roses offer just about everything to the Gardener, Great Beauty, Clear Colors and Mind Bending Fragrances.  Now even disease resistant Roses are beginning to be developed.  The Rose is a perfect example of how much work a gardener will go to in order to enjoy one of God's greatest creation.

Ground Covers add a mass of beauty to areas where we often are hard put to do any thing with such as steep banks with poor soil and a tendency to erode.  We use several different kinds here in the Gardens.  Our favorites are Creeping Variegated Euonymus, Houttuynia "Chameleon" and a Miniature English Ivy.  The Euonymus emerges from dormancy in the Spring with bright gold foliage, then in Winter the leaves turn to the colors of Fall.  Houttuynia dies to the ground in Winter but emerges every Spring with new and beautiful leaves of green, red and yellow.  Our Ivy has a combination of miniature and larger leaves and has done a wonderful job of covering a steep bank along our main Hosta trail.

Finally some over all views of the Gardens in Spring