I have been feeling sort of guilty about all the wildflower posts on this blog but after much deliberation, I came to the conclusion that recording things that are important to me is at the heart of why I keep a blog. My goal this spring has been to observe as many of the local wildflowers as I can and try to keep a record of when they started blooming and then identify them as I can with my field guide. This blog is part of my nature journal…a digital version of my paper journal.
In addition to recording my wildflowers on the blog, I have tried to keep current with our Wednesday Flower Study posts and the Outdoor Hour bird challenges. I slipped in a post about our great natural bridge hike last week and I have a backlog of posts to make about our other hikes.
Even though every post doesn’t exactly reference the Handbook of Nature Study, I still feel like I am staying “on topic” and helping to encourage other families to get outdoors and explore their own neighborhood. With the exception of the first photo of me taking photos of flowers, all the other photos are within a 25 minute driving distance from my house.
“It may not be practical for every family, but when mothers understand the good that a measure can do, they will often work miracles to provide it. A twenty minute trip with a picnic lunch can make a day in the country accessible to almost anyone, but why do it just one day? Why not do it lots of days? Or even every nice day?”
Charlotte Mason in Modern English, volume one, page 44
So here are April 14th’s flowers from our regular hiking trail.
I have decided that yellow sunflower shaped flowers are really hard to identify. I need to start carrying my book with me on hikes and not relying on my photos to help make an identification.
This is something rather beautiful and we only have seen it one place in all our travels. I can’t find a identification for it but it sort of looks like Purple fritillary…not quite sure.
We think this is a Woodland star.
April 15th’s flowers from Cronan Ranch and the American River Confluence
(These are both new hikes to our family and we ended up going back to both places over the next few days to explore some more.)
Lupine. This is the year of lupine in our area. It is glorious and abundant everywhere you go. In a lot of places it is a mix of lupine and poppies and the blue and gold combination is stunning.
April 16th at Cronan Ranch again…
Lupines…right alongside the river. Yellow bush lupine and blue pod lupine.
Baby blue eyes
Back to the American River Confluence on 4/17/09
The plant and flower look like Miner’s lettuce but I have never seen the heart shaped buds before. Anyone know what this is?
We think these are Ground iris. We saw quite a few of them along the slope on the river side of the trail.
I think that is all of the outstanding new wildflowers that we observed and enjoyed over the last week’s hikes. I have a few more to share but I will post about those when I write about each individual hike.
I have developed a huge case of spring allergies. I have not been out for my usual walk in three days and I am getting antsy to break out and enjoy the spring. I am hoping that my allergy medicine kicks in soon and I can get out and explore some more of our local area.
Don’t feel bad about all the wildflower posts; I love them & I bet many others do, too. Besides, it’s helping me live vicariously through you since it seems like someone in the family has been sick all month and we haven’t had much outdoor fun–except our recent trip to Biltmore Estate in NC (my most recent blog post, if you get a chance to read it)!
We’ll be back to participating in the outdoor challenges soon!
Thanks Jamie,
I feel like I’m overwhelming you all with wildflowers but this is what happens when you really start to take one flower at a time and build from there. Our family knows so many of the local wildflowers now…far more than we knew a month or so ago and blogging about it has helped me stay accountable for finding names and not just saying it is another pretty flower. 🙂
I will pop over to read your entry.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
I enjoy your wildflower posts, too! I live on the other side of the country, so it’s great to see what’s growing in your neck of the woods, plus your posts inspire me to keep an eye open for flowers around here that often go unnoticed.
Oh, thanks so much for posting more about the flowers! I especially love all the pictures! They are just beautiful!!!
I hope you don’t mind, I put your button on my homeschool blog under nature study. We are going to try to start the challenges next week! I’m looking foward to getting even more out of our nature study time!
Again, thanks so much!
Rebecca
This post was so timely for us!! My son gave me a bouquet of flowers from our hillside, but we weren’t sure what they were–Lupine!!
I enjoyed reading/seeing your wildflower post, too. And, I love how you use your blog as a virtual extension of your nature journal! I bet Charlotte would enjoy your blog – what other way could you share your “nature journal” (and excitement!) with so many others???
Why feel guilty? It’s your blog. I love the wildflower posts! Anyone who doesn’t can skip. 🙂
Excited to find your blog. Re-inspired to study nature more indepth. Today the kids and I took pictures of bugs, birds, bird droppings, insect nest sacks, and wildflowers – it was a great day!
Wow, Barb. This blog is always so impressive to me, and I really want to use it more often. Our Nature Study is one area where I need to be more diligent!
I do especially love wildflowers. They are just so…perfect!
I enjoy your wildflower post and all the others for that matter. Keep it up