Just the Right Spot, American Snowbells

On the short drive home from Mom and Jim's in Johnsonville, just an hour ahead of dusk, a mass of shimmering white blossoms beckons from the ditch.

This is a low spot, near where Wildcat Branch and Beaver Creek cross County Line Road;  

the ditches here are filled with ferns and sphagnum moss and all manner of wetland shrubs.

During a heavy summer rain, 

the creek bed might even join up with the road bed for an hour or so until things quiet back down.

Just the right sort of spot where you might expect to encounter this striking beauty on a perfect afternoon in spring, all gussied up in finest white for the local May Day festivities.

Styrax americanus, American Snowbells. 

We haven't encountered this gorgeous native shrub in the wild too often,

so we stop to savor the alluring fragrance and striking beauty of her simple and abundant blossoms.

Styrax is not one to shy away from getting its feet wet, and with the deluge of a couple weeks ago, it's plenty wet right now.

Even better for her, the timber on the adjacent tract was recently cut, so there's very little competition for sunlight in this perfect spot by the side of the road.

We've driven this road for years and never noticed her, but we're certainly glad she called us over today. 

And from the look of things...

she and we are not the only ones who think we've found 

just the right spot.