Your rocks formed from heat and gas bubbles formed inside then cooled. Tiny cracks allowed sediment and clay to enter each time it rained or flooded. Are these found anywhere near a river or pond/lake? Water action can make what appear to be man-made shapes.

They are found in the mountains where there is layers and layers of leaf compost and no clay at all. They are not near water or lakes. We do have 'turtle rocks' which are bubbles that formed when lava was cooling in a lot of places but that is many miles from these rocks. It is not like any lava formations I have ever seen. They do not resemble the lava rock, they seem more like granite. The rocks are all squareish or rectangular. None of them look like the lava floes or cooled bubbles that we have near some of our hot springs. I had a hard time wrapping my head around a hard rock surrounding a soft rock. When I tried to chip the soft rock out I realized it was very hard but with no 'structure' and I could chip it. After planting in a shallow one I discovered that being kept wet allowed me to dig out the center. It is not important but every time I move them around I can't help but wonder what kind of rock it is.

Isn't Leslie a geologist? Maybe she knows what they are.

I don't know. @Lestv do you have an inkling? There should be a rock forum on here somewhere. LOL

Actually I am an archaeologist but have a good geology background. Sounds like a silica based rock. Such as forms limestone. You said it is found in caves? Over time with the right heat and pressure clay can slowly turn into a rock. That the center is still soft means the outer layers have hardened but the core didn't have the right conditions to finish the job. Looking at the outer shell I would also venture that there was intense heat such as from forest fires that fused the silica. Clay, etc has a platelike structure so a whole layer has become exposed. Since there are lots of squarish "rocks" I would say the plate dried out and broke (like you see clay crack when it dries out in the sun) before it was subjected to heat. That would create the shells. I will have to check out the geology of your area to know for sure.

Bonnie, those rocks are really cool!

I have some bee pods on a few of my iris. Should I wait till they mature before I cut off all of the bud stalks??? I don't plan on planting any iris seed so I was wondering if they could be trimmed off now??

If you don't plan on growing the seeds or giving them to someone to grow, I would cut them off now.

I agree with Ken.

Interesting rocks, Bonnie.

Liking your rocks adventure, Bonnie! The world is a wonderful place.

Isn't it though?! I like going into the hills for spring herbs and I find the most interesting cliffs and rock formations..... and of course bear scat. They are getting to thick for comfort.

Packing some heat, I hope.

Yes. Just common sense.

Will folks hunt them and fill their freezers?

So a while ago I was saying about my upstairs gardens. Here in these shots you can sorta see how the garage is built into the hill and then the property goes up. I have it terraced on this side of the yard.

Daylilies in the first picture with tomato plants up top.

Very nice. So green...

Zencat said:Very nice. So green...

Thanks. Lots of rain here.

Wow Rita! What a nice job you have done there!

Linneaj said:Wow Rita! What a nice job you have done there!

Thanks. The garden took many years to create and of course it is never "done". And I change things!