This week we are going to look at some flowers that are featured in the Handbook of Nature Study that are actually vines. Vines are an interesting study to most of us…be sure to watch the YouTube videos to get your curiosity going!
Use the ideas in this Outdoor Hour Challenge to make careful observations of whichever flower you have access to and then follow up with a nature journal entry.
Are you ready for my first Outdoor Mom journal entry from our new home in Oregon? This place is amazing! We had a period of time that we had to be “homeless” as we transitioned from living in our old home until we moved into the new one so we took advantage of those few days by going camping with two of our older children. The weather was perfect and we hiked a bit and had some awesome evening campfires. It was so very relaxing after a whirlwind of packing and transporting our household 450 miles.
Now that we’re settling into the new place, we realize how much wildlife we have living all around us. The most notable animals are the Rocky Mountain elk that graze in the land right behind ours. They make their way slowly by our fence line both at dawn and dusk. So far the largest group we observed was eight elk. Last night, one of the elk was brave enough to jump our fence and eat at the birdfeeder. What a treat to see these magnificent mammals close up!
We have enjoyed the early morning birdsong and many mornings there is a swirling mist rising up over the river. I wake up now and jump out of bed to look out the window to see what there is to see. I let my dog outside early this morning and a few minutes later I spied her sitting at the fence watching a group of four elk. She just sat and watched, sniffing the air. It made me laugh….I can only imagine what the Kona dog was thinking.
I have started a bird list, adding each bird as it makes its appearance. I have a pair of binoculars at the ready near the window just in case a new bird decides to visit the yard. It’s going to be a fun summer of bird watching and learning my waterfowl for this area of Oregon. I think I’m up to the challenge.
I have a really nice neighborhood for walking. It is a flat mile if I walk in a loop. As I walk, I’m making mental notes of any plant emerging that looks like it may be a wildflower. It is still very early spring here and many of the trees are just getting their leaves. I am hoping to learn my Oregon wildflowers one flower at a time, just like I did in California when I first started out with nature study with my children. I realized already that I need new field guides and a really good hiking guide book. I will be researching them on Amazon over the next month or two.
We took our first hike since moving at Smith Rock State Park. My daughter was with us which made everything more fun. I will share more about this awesome place in a future post.
Well hopefully you’ve had a great month of nature time as well. Share a comment or a link to your blog entry if you want me to pop over and take a look!
Don’t forget that I am sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal
Note: I found this entry in my drafts! I have been so busy over the past six weeks as we sold our house in California, purchased a house in Oregon, moved all our belongings, and tried to keep from getting to stressed out. It isn’t surprising then that a few things slipped through the cracks.
Here is my April nature journal entry for your enjoyment.
Weekly Nature Journal Project
April 2017
This month my nature journal is full of flowers. My world has been filled with flowers so it only makes sense that this is what made its way into my heart and then onto my journal pages. The first part of the month we were in Oregon, then back to California, then back to Oregon again. This pattern will be happening for the next few months while we transition our life to our new home.
Central Oregon is just starting to move from winter into spring, so it was fun to create a second spring page noting my observations in contrast to my previous California spring page. I featured the crocus we saw and used a bright springy background of yellow for my journaling.
The first wildflower we studied from the new Wildflower Set #1 is the subject of the next page in my journal. We saw mustard all up and down the state of California.
This is the second page in my year-long study of the dogwood tree. I think this is my favorite page of the month! I so enjoyed making careful and up close observations of this pretty flower…or rather flowers and bracts. The creamy color and delicate pink tinge may just make this my favorite flowering tree.
I think this is my first two page spread of the year. I wanted to sketch this flower and include a photo so it made sense to make it two pages facing each other. I included a list of the other flowers we found on this particular hike. It’s always nice to have a record to compare from year to year.
As we get ready to make our move to Oregon, I’m getting very sentimental about my home and garden here in California. Each day I try to make more mental notes of the sights and sounds. It’s comforting to know that many of those memories are tucked safely away in my journals. I packed my older nature journals into a box yesterday and was grateful for the time I have spent digging deeper into learning about my neighborhood’s flora and fauna. I also packed my children’s nature journals alongside mine in the box. I inherited those journals from them as they left home. You can be sure they will be treasured keepsakes of the 30 years we have lived here on Hilltop Drive.
From a hilltop to a riverbank….maybe next month you will see my new habitat make an appearance in my nature journal!
Don’t forget that I am sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal
We are going to go on a search for poppies and buttercups this week! In my world, this is prime time for both of these wildflowers. In fact, I have some blooming right in my front yard!
Join me using the ideas from the archive post linked above or you can download the More Nature Study –Spring ebook if you are an Ultimate Naturalist Library member.
You may with to create a poppy nature journal entry using the idea I shared in this post from the past: Nature Journal Tutorial.
How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?
Members of theUltimate Naturalistand Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.
Yarrow is a plant that most of us will regularly see alongside our hiking and walking trails. In addition, many garden nurseries have cultivated varieties of the yarrow plants if you are not successful in finding one in a more natural setting.
¨ Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium )You may wish to check the range of this particular plant on USDA.
¨ You may wish to view and download this fact sheet about the common yarrow: USDA Yarrow.
¨ The yarrow plant is the host plant for the Painted Lady butterfly so make sure to look for this pretty insect when you find some yarrow.
¨ Bloom time is usually April to September. Yarrow grows in full sun or part shade in dry habitats.
¨ Aster Family: check out this page with an informative video.
Outdoor Hour Time:
¨ Yarrow is found just about everywhere in the United States. Look for it in dry sunny spots starting in April. We see it alongside most of our hiking trails and is easy to spot because it is usually about 3 feet tall. If you find a patch to observe in person, use the observation suggestions on the following page to make a careful study of this beautiful flower.
Follow-Up Activity:
Note: Ebook users can find custom notebook pages to use for the yarrow flower and the aster family.
¨ Create a notebook page for the yarrow.
¨ Start an aster family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.
¨ Advanced study: Learn the medicinal uses of yarrow. Here is a link to use: Herb Wisdom.
The Yarrow Plant Attracts the following Butterflies:
How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?
Members of theUltimate Naturalistand Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.
Create monthly entries for my Outdoor Mom experiences as I share our nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge, our travel experiences, and any of my family’s nature adventures. This was accomplished. You can read my entries here: January, February, and March.
Focus on my nature journal and create at least one page weekly. I have kept this up! I am most proud of accomplishing this goal.
Post images of my nature journal pages on Instagram each week. If you follow me on Instagram, you get to see a new nature journal page every Wednesday.
Read and review 6 nature journal related books. Oops! I really need to get myself organized for this goal. I just ordered my first book from Amazon so look for a review soon.
Have you created your own nature study goals this year? How are you doing?
I will update you when I finish the second quarter!
Outdoor Hour Challenge Purple Chinese Houses Wildflower Study Wildflower Set #1
Inside Preparation:
There are 20 species of Chinese houses, most found in California. Their common name suggests the look of a Chinese pagoda.
¨ Purple Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla) Look to see the range on USDA.
¨ Sticky Chinese Houses (Collinsia tinctoria) Look to the range on USDA.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Look in sandy soil on shaded flats or slopes.
¨ Usual bloom time is March to June. In my experience, these showy flowers are found in large patches on sunny slopes along the trail.
¨ You may wish to look for the Checkerspot butterfly since this flower is a host plant for this insect.
Follow-Up Activity:
Note: Ebook users can find custom notebook pages to use for the Purple Chinese House flower and the figwort family.
¨ Create a notebook page for the Purple Chinese house flower.
¨ Start a figwort family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.
How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?
Members of theUltimate Naturalistand Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.
Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.
The newsletter link is not in this email but will come separately. Members should have received their link already.
If you don’t receive the separate email with the download link, you probably aren’t subscribed to the blog yet. This will take less than a minute to do if you follow the steps below.
If you are a subscriber and you haven’t received your newsletter email yet, check your SPAM inbox. Some subscribers have found the email buried in SPAM inbox.
If you need to subscribe:
You will need to go to the Handbook of Nature Study, look to the top right corner for the box to type in your preferred email address, and then confirm the email that comes to your email inbox.
Once you subscribe, you will receive a thank you email from me with the download link for the current month’s newsletter.
This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of May so be sure to download it before 5/31/17.
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
This month the theme of the newsletter goes along with the Ambleside Online theme of fish.I expanded on that theme to include beach nature study ideas.
There is a Nature Study Planning Page for May with lots of great ideas related to the monthly theme.
Resources for your Nature Library: I have started to build a nature library store on Amazon that will feature by category my favorite nature study books and resources. Take a look and see if there is anything you would like to put on your wish list for your family’s nature study library: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Library Suggestions on Amazon.com. Note this is my affiliate store to items I personally recommend and have read or seen in person.
Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.
This new ebook is found in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships.
As a special promo, you can use the discount code WILDFLOWER5 for $5 off the Ultimate Naturalist Membership.
This week is going to be fabulous! We are going to be on a dandelion hunt with our children. This cheerful flower has so much to teach us as we look at the leaves, the flower shape, and the seeds. You can find these little beauties everywhere now that spring is bursting out all around us.
Use the ideas in this week’s challenge to dig into the Handbook of Nature Study lesson on dandelions. Create a record of your observations in your nature journal.
How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?
Members of theUltimate Naturalistand Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.
When the package arrives each spring from Renee’s Garden, I get a little thrill! Seeing that envelope in my mailbox reminds me that garden time is just around the corner. I ordered my seeds before I knew we would sell our house so a few of the selections may not grow so well in my new climate zone.
I will be sharing my seeds with friends instead. This way I can still see how they perform and I won’t be sad that the seeds are going to waste.
Here is what I ordered this year (free from Renee’s in return for my sharing our results).
My current garden is in climate zone 8A and my new climate zone is 5A. Big difference!
“According to our data, you have a very, very short growing season.”
The National Gardening Association
Yep, 53 days for a growing season is very short! We will not be trying to grow things like tomatoes or peppers unless we create a greenhouse sometime in the future. I am told there is a very nice Farmer’s Market in our new area that I can visit to get loads of fresh veggies. I think that is a much better strategy for 2017.
I will look at creating a new garden as a challenge. If you have any experience with growing a vegetable garden with a really short growing season, I would love to hear your comments.
