A New Year and a Great Start

What a great start to the New Year. Lots of orders already and today I found a goldmine of cushion moss. It figures..... I had finally decided to stop selling cushions until Spring. The ones I was finding back here were just too wet and the color was starting to get "funky".
Today I found tons of beautiful green cushions. Also nice frog moss and what can only be described as a field of tree clubmoss and creeping wintergreen. Gorgeous stuff! I'll spend my whole day hiking tomorrow. I plan on getting as much as I can before Tuesday when the temps drop like a rock here. Monday will be Sheet Moss day. The sheets on this mountain are the best around - I was really disappointed in the sheets I saw during my hike today. They just didn't compare.
My Partridge Vines are selling like crazy on Ebay so I've added them to my Etsy store. Already I have a custom order for them along with other packages. Who'd a thunk that those crazy vines would be so popular? I don't think I can take a step in the woods without walking on them - They are everywhere!
Still cannot identify this moss I found - it's driving me crazy!

Another Rainy Day!

Another rainy day. Good for the Haircaps, Sheet Moss and Frog Moss. Bad for the cushions. They are swollen little sponges out there. Right now those haircaps are outstanding! I'm going to gather some more later if the rain lets up.
I started listing an assortment of mosses on Ebay as a buy it now listing. It's a great combination of medium and small cushions, haircap, frog, lichens and polished stones. Search "Live Moss Assortment" on Ebay and it should come up. It's great for someone creating 2 or 3 terrariums.

So Dry!

It's been dry here in South Central PA. Very dry. We got about an inch of rain in July. The ground is cracked. I haven't mowed the lawn in weeks. I grabbed my bag and spatula and headed for the woods. We got a bit of rain on Monday and that helped perk things up but the ferns are dying off and there's very little underbrush left alive. In areas, where the underbrush is gone, the cushion mosses are getting too much sun and they are bleaching out. I decided to head way back in the woods where it's more dense. I wanted to explore new areas where I haven't been in a long time. I found an old logging road. The road has grown over with grasses. There are huge ledges of rock. peeking out of the earth. They are covered with sheet moss. Some of the nicest I've seen in a while. Huge sheets. I took one sheet about 12 x12 and bagged it. I walked back about 2 miles and came to an open area. It was too sunny for moss so I decided to turn around. As I was heading back I spied an area of cushion moss beneath a tree and found a fabulous piece that looks like a patchwork. It's a deep green rock moss with small cushion mosses throughout and a section of liverwort embedded. Just beautiful!
I headed home with my finds. Tomorrow I will head to the area where I found all the pixie cups and hopefully find another piece. There was plenty last time I was there. I hate to take more than I need so I always leave some. That's the law of the land. Never clear an area of plants!