The azaleas in our yard have burst into bloom. I especially like the color of these blossoms which are on a bush along the deck behind our house.

This waterfall is another one we found through one of our waterfall books. Lamance Falls is a small two-tiered waterfall near Wartburg, Tennessee.

We've had warm, sunny weather here on the Plateau and the flowers in our yard are responding. Yesterday (Tuesday) our Autumn Bugler iris burst in to bloom. Both Betsy and I love the color of this iris and the fact that it will rebloom in the fall is a nice added bonus.

While we were in Texas Betsy's son took us down to Galveston. We saw evidence of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ike, but we also saw that much cleanup had been done. Further down the island we stopped at the beach shown in the picture above. There was no sign of any damage -- just a beautiful beach on which to fish or just to relax and enjoy the sky and the sea.

Isn't that a nice vine growing up the arch? This picture was taken in July, 2006, at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

If you'll enlarge the picture and look slightly below the center, you'll see a face. This 'vine' is actually a 'street performer' on stilts. If you didn't see the vine move from one location to another, you would never know it was a person.

One of the 'joys' of living on the Plateau is that we can have places in which the soil is only about an inch deep. Not even grass will grow well under those circumstances, so Betsy and I have turned to Sempervivum (Hens and Chicks) to grow in those areas. The clump in the picture above is in one of our flower beds where the soil barely covers the bedrock beneath it. But these semps seem to be doing quite well.

While we were at Mount Nebo in Arkansas, I hiked the Rim Trail around the top of the mountain. It was a cold and rainy day as you can see from the picture above. But it was a great hike and along the way I came across the trunk of this very misshapened tree clinging to a rock on an outcrop.

The picture above was taken near the Anthony Chapel in Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs, Arkansas. This little cascade was one of several in the garden and presented a quiet place to sit, relax and enjoy the beauty around us.

The home in the picture above is Violet Bank near Petersburg, Virginia. Robert E. Lee used Violet Bank as his headquarters from June through October, 1864, during the siege of Petersburg. But Lee didn't use the house -- he pitched his tent under the cucumber tree you can see to the right in the picture.

On our way home from Texas yesterday Betsy and I stopped by Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee. It was a beautiful spring day and we enjoyed our visit to the park. The sun was shining and I was able to capture the rainbow created by the spray from Cane Creek Falls, as shown in the picture above.

The picture above is of a cascade in Arkansas's Garvan Gardens. This particular cascade tumbles down a hill through a woodlands garden to a large koi pond. It's one of several cascades and waterfalls that can be enjoyed while visiting the gardens. If you like falling waters this is a wonderful place to visit.

We have several different varieties of tulips in our yard. The tulips above are Orange Emperor Tulips. They've survived rain (as you can see), spring snow showers and low temperatures. Through it all they gave us something to smile about when we looked out the kitchen window.

The picture above shows the James River at Shirley Plantation in Virginia. Shirley Plantation was founded in 1613, only six years after the founding of the first English colony at Jamestown. You can see a picture of the house by clicking HERE.

Water transportation was the most efficient way to move people and crops back then, and so a riverfront was a major requirement for successful plantations. In addition to enabling efficient transportation, the James River also provided a pretty view.

Betsy and I visited Garvan Gardens in Arkansas because this little waterfall was mentioned in the guidebook we had with us. Although the waterfall is small, it is very pretty and the walk through the gardens to reach the waterfall was very enjoyable.

The picture above shows a Mardi Gras tulip after it has opened on a bright, sunny day here in the Glade.

The picture above was taken on a trip we made to eastern Virginia in 2007 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The house is the main house of Shirley Plantation on the James River east of Richmond. Shirley Plantation has been in the Carter family for almost 400 years. I wanted to visit Shirley because Robert E. Lee's mother was a Carter and Lee's parents were married in the parlor of this home. One of the guests at the wedding was George Washington.

Twin Falls flow into the Caney Fork River in Rock Island State Park here in Tennessee. Betsy and I have visited these falls several times. This picture was taken June 10, 2006.

I'm happy to report that our weather has warmed up and that we seem to have escaped the freezing temperatures with little, if any, damage. The picture above shows what Red Dynasty Tulips look like without the blanket of snow.

I took the picture above Tuesday morning in our front yard. That's a Red Dynasty Tulip under the snow, and as you can tell, we did in fact get snow here on the Plateau Monday night. Although we had flurries during much of Tuesday, by late afternoon the snow was gone and the flowers looked as good as new. Now all we have to do is get through Tuesday night.

The picture above was taken last Saturday in our front yard. The redbud tree is starting to bloom, and I really like the the pink of the blossoms against that blue sky. I'm glad I got this picture when I did -- we're under a freeze warning and I don't know what we'll find in the morning.

Garvan Gardens in Arkansas had many daffodils, hyacinths and tulips in bloom when we were there in March of this year. There were also many pansies in bloom. Betsy really liked the bed in the picture above because the pansies were dressed out in Tennessee orange. In case you didn't know, Betsy is a huge fan of the University of Tennessee Volunteers.

We're being threatened with a return of winter, but the weather has been warm for several days and tulips are beginning to bloom. The tulip above, Mardi Gras, is in our side flower bed and is about to open. We hope this and other flowers survive Monday night's promised cold weather.

When Betsy and I were in the Smokies last weekend we were fortunate to find good water flows along the rivers and streams we visited. We came across this section of the Little Pigeon River near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs, Arkansas, is the botanical gardens of the University of Arkansas and is definitely worth a visit. Among the many beautiful blossoms Betsy and I enjoyed during our visit in March was this Weeping Cherry tree near the koi pond.

The last waterfall Betsy and I visited on our Valentine weekend was Wetumpka Falls near Tullahoma, Tennessee. This is the 301st waterfall in our collection.

After visiting this waterfall I discovered that there are at least two more Wetumpka Falls -- one in Alabama and the other in New Jersey. So it looks like we'll have a couple more trips to plan!