garden flowers Archives

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Barb — 5 Comments

Garden Thoughts and Starting a New School Year

This weekend I kept seeing the 5 and 8 patterns in flower petals in my garden. I would be watering a garden box and there it would be…5 or 8. I know it is because I am hypersensitive after refreshing my memory about Fibonacci last week during our corn study.

Pink Cosmos

Zucchini blossom with its bold orange color.

I also had a renewed appreciation for the patterns of growth in flowers. The beauty of the way the seeds are arranged fascinates me.

My mammoth sunflower is turning itself inside out. The birds are loving it!

We start a new school year today and I will still be in my garden in the afternoon but it will not be the long days outside like I have been. Soon the season will change and it will be autumn. Autumn is not my favorite season but it does have its delights. Already I can feel the days getting shorter and spending time outdoors will bring to our attention other changes as well.

For now, we will enjoy the harvesting of our vegetables and the cycle of planting a new fall/winter garden. I will be saving some seeds for next year and I already have plans for a new section of garden to be completed by next spring. One of my summer reading projects was this book: The Backyard Homestead. I was inspired to try a few new things in our smallish backyard. I will keep you posted as we progress in a few small projects.

The Outdoor Hour Challenges for crop plants will continue for a few more weeks and then I am not sure what direction we will take. My boys are asking for another pond study so maybe we will take the Outdoor Hour Challenges in that direction as we head into autumn.

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Barb — 14 Comments

Great Sunflower Project

Today we did some observations as part of the Great Sunflower Project. We signed up earlier in the year to participate and they sent us some seeds to plant in our garden. Our job was to observe the sunflowers once they bloom and count how many bees visited our flowers. You are asked to observe until you see five bees or for thirty minutes.

We did not have to wait even a minute before we saw our first bee! We had five bees observed in less than five minutes.

Here is one sunflower that is just unfolding its bloom. I love the way it looks.

I love the patterns in this sunflower. You can really see how it is a composite flower with its rays and florets.

This bee couldn’t wait for the sunflower to open…he had to push his way into the inside to reach the pollen.

Have you ever seen so much pollen on a bee before? I couldn’t stop watching this guy and his overloaded pollen sacs. Wow! He is one busy bee.

This is my favorite sunflower in the whole garden. We grew it from a seed saved from last year and it is a Mammoth Sunflower. It is really tall and the bloom is huge.

This is my son who is six feet tall….he is dwarfed by this sunflower. Look at how large the leaves are!

This is what the finches are doing to the leaves. They sit and nibble every afternoon. I guess there is enough to share.

This is a really fun and easy project. Check out the Great Sunflower Project for your family next year.

Posted on July 4, 2009 by Barb — 1 Comment

Garden Update: Early July

This week’s garden update includes some new munchies from the garden. The poppy above is probably going to be close to one of the last that I have for the year. I love the texture of this blossom, so delicate and papery.

I went ahead and picked the last of the lettuce. These are little mini heads of lettuce that taste so sweet and nice, almost like butter lettuce.

This is the final crop of mixed leaf lettuce. I don’t really care for the bitterness of these varieties. I think we will plant a different kind in the fall….some that aren’t so strong.

Banana peppers….I can hardly wait!

The hydrangeas are awesome this year. I love the purpleness of this one plant.

Our experimental mullein is blooming. For the first time we left the mullein growing in several spots in the yard and it is now showing us its more beautiful side. The hummingbirds have been investigating it as well. 🙂 The empty feeder is a normal sight in our yard lately. I have a hard time keeping up.

Here is another angle of this section of the garden on a different day. The sunflowers are really tall now, way over my head. See how tall the mullein is too?

I don’t think that I have shared my milkweed’s progress yet. I sent away for some milkweed seeds from ButterflyEncounters.com and I started some of the seed in pots. I am a little nervous about transplanting it into the garden so I got a bigger pot and I am going to still keep a careful eye on it over the summer.

Amanda’s coneflowers are blooming and the bees are buzzing happily. If you look carefully in the background of this photo, you will see her zinnias have started to bloom as well.

Well, that is a quick trip around our garden this week. Just to a note to myself=We planted bee balm and salvia this week, hoping it will grow now that the weather is hot.

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Barb — 5 Comments

Exploring with Pollen: Black-Eyed Susans

We were out working in the garden this morning and the topic of pollination came up. We were talking about the different ways that plants pollinate and as if to illustrate one way, this spider obliged us with his example.

We were really examining these black-eyed susans and their pretty pollen spots and we realized that this very yellow spider was sitting right there in front of us. Isn’t he pretty?

I ran inside and gathered a few things to use in exploring the garden and its pollens. I brought out a few Q-tips and a hand lens for gathering some pollen from the flowers and looked at it up close. We also found that many of the flowers and veggies that we observed had ants crawling in around the inside of the flower. Pollination.

Pollen on a day lily

We took a few minutes more to look at various ways that plants hold their pollen and watched a few bees at work and then we came inside.

Pollen on a petunia

It was a short nature study but the best kind……stemming from curiosity about something we had close at hand.

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Barb — 4 Comments

Another Garden Update-Flowers and Veggies and Critters and an Outdoor Hour Challenge Update

Do you see the short fence around the box? Yes, we had critters get in last week and dig holes and uproot all of our onions. We think it is our resident skunk since we can smell him at night and early mornings. So far the fence has deterred him from digging anymore holes.

Many of our day lilies are blooming and this one is our newest variety, Lemon Sachet. It is gorgeous!

The coneflowers are just about ready to burst out in Amanda’s garden box. I love to have a fresh bouquet of these flowers on my dining room table since they make me smile.

Amanda’s zinnias and cosmos are growing tall and the cosmos have flower buds…it won’t be long now.

My flower garden is cheerful and colorful this year. I have black-eyed susans, roses, alyssum, sunflowers, morning glories, a hydrangea, and gladiolas all at varying degrees of maturity. The hummingbirds are already making themselves at home.

The green beans have perfect little blossoms and lots of them! I can hardly wait to have some crisp green beans for dinner.

Look at those baby tomatoes. I think they double in size every day now that the weather has turned hot.

Squash blossoms are a favorite of the bees in the garden.

Monster zucchini plant! The little ones next to it are winter squash. This is a new area to my garden this year and it receives a lot of sun…perfect for squash.

Last but not least, here are some peppers and blossoms. We have three varieties of peppers this year and they are all looking good so far. We tend to have puny peppers so I am hoping that this time I picked varieties that like our soil and weather.

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into this week’s garden. I am working on a post where I share our hiking/wildflower/camping adventure from last week’s trip to the Oregon Coast.

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Barb — 3 Comments

Day Lily Farm-Color!

We had a chance to take a drive to one of our favorite local spots….a flower farm that specializes in growing and cultivating day lilies.

This is the perfect time of year to visit because so many of the early varieties are blooming.

This is one that I love and we have several in our home garden.

Wow! Look at the bright orange color! Stunning.

We wandered up and down the rows and rows of flowers and decided on one called, “Sachet of Lemon.” I forgot to actually take a photo of this one, but when it blooms in our garden I will share a photo of it with you.

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

Wednesday Flower Study #9: Sweet Peas

We have some sweet pea vines in our front yard but they are not blooming yet. There is a spot where they are growing wild alongside the roadway nearby so we were able to get a small piece of a vine with blossoms and buds to observe and then draw into our nature journals.

“The sweet pea has some of its leaflets changed to tendrils which hold it to the trellis. Its flower is like that of the clover, the upper petal forming the banner, the two side petals the wings, and the two united lower petals the keel which protects the stamens and the pistil.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 589

Want to see a demonstration? Here is a very short video we made showing the different parts of the sweet pea flower.

“In nature study the work begins with any plant or creature which chances to interest the pupil.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 5

The above sweet pea sketch is from Amanda’s nature study from many, many years ago. She is a flower girl and her journals have always been filled with colorful blooms of all kinds.

I love the delicate colors of this flower as it matures and blossoms.

Can you see the flower parts there between the wing petals?

The sweet pea is now safely recorded in our nature journals. This was a perfect study for this morning in the cool air in the shade. The afternoons are getting hot so our nature study is going to be limited to early morning and the evening hours from now on.

I copied the poem about sweet peas from the Handbook of Nature Study section on sweet peas. I think it describes this flower perfectly.

In other garden news…….

The garden is growing in this hot weather.

Our sunflowers are growing at an incredible rate right now.

The sweet smell and taste of ripe strawberries are a daily occurrence. Lovely, just lovely.

So a little late today for my entry but we have been busy with finishing up term exams and deciding on unit celebration plans. Please feel free to study any flower you have on hand and share your results on Mr. Linky so I can pop over and check it out. You can also just leave me a comment if you wish.

If you want to see our original list of flowers with links to all the entries, here you go:
Wednesday Flower Study

Our family has one more Wednesday Flower Study to complete next week and then we will be focusing on something else…not sure what yet but something close at hand. 🙂

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Barb — 1 Comment

Wednesday Flower Study #8: Dianthus/Carnations/Bachelor’s Buttons/Cornflowers

We have two varieties of dianthus in our garden…one red and one white.

I have been thinking all along that they were the same thing as bachelor’s buttons but apparently not. See, I learned something this week. The dianthus in our garden are actually varieties of carnations. Bachelor’s buttons are composite flowers and carnations are not.

They smell like spicy vanilla…my favorite.

“Each bachelor’s buttons is made up of many little flowers…”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 579

Apparently I have no actual bachelor’s buttons in my garden.

I am thoroughly confused about the different names of these two flowers…..bachelor’s buttons and cornflowers.

as well as dianthus and sweet williams and then………..

there are carnations.

We are going to do some more research. 🙂 I am going to list some links below for my reference and you are welcome to read them if you are interested.

Bachelor’s Buttons/Cornflower
Sweet Williams/Dianthus or Carnations

Posted on May 5, 2009 by Barb — 5 Comments

New Beginnings: Square Foot Garden Updates

Our garden has always been grown in raised garden boxes using the square foot gardening techniques but this year we replaced all of our string grids with wooden grids. Wow! It looks great and I am anxious to get started on this year’s garden.

You knew it was coming…the transition from wildflowers to garden talk. I’m so predictable. Now that we think our last frost is past, we will be spending more time in the yard with our hands in the dirt. We have a few things sprouting in pots on the deck but not much. My dad has been busy sprouting seeds in his garage for a few weeks and he always shares so I’m not worried.

My son had a zucchini seedling from his grandpa that he wanted to put into his box and I asked him if he would show us how to plant a seedling. I thought some of you might enjoy viewing a little video with your children to inspire them to get out and garden.

This guy has been my gardening partner since he was able to toddle around the garden. 🙂 He was a little nervous on the video but he is a very confident gardener. His favorite things to grow? Zucchini and pumpkins.

Here are some other views of our new grids on our old boxes. The second box in the photo does not have a grid…it is almost all filled in with strawberries at the moment. It will have dahlias as the summer progresses.

This is my box and it has been totally wiped clean and freshly composted. We are going to try some different veggies in here this year and we will see how it goes. I still need to fill in with a little more soil to level it out but we are all exhausted and it will have to wait until the weekend now…..I would rather play in the garden but my hubby has to go back to work tomorrow. He will haul some soil up from the other side of the yard where we are composting and building up some mulch in a stash.

Here is a view from the other side. The closest box is Amanda’s box and she grows mostly flowers in her garden. You also can see my new bird bath which the dog thinks is a doggie drinking fountain.

We added a new section along the fence for some more veggies. What do you think? How about pole beans in the back and something shorter planted in front? This area gets about 6-7 hours of sun in the summertime.

I also noticed that over the last week, I have a whole crop of sunflowers that have volunteered in this garden bed. I am not surprised at all because this is where we had the really tall sunflowers last year and I left them in pretty much all fall for the birds to eat from. We shall see how many plants we have as time goes on. I had quite a crop of sunflower seeds to save for the birds which was really nice. The boys enjoy harvesting the seeds for me and it is an easy job.

This is my flower section from last year that I started from seed. Read this entry to see how we did it and I encourage you to give it a try.

We are going to be adding two more sections of veggies this year along the other fence so we should have quite a bit to harvest once we get going. It is all on an drip irrigation system so it makes my life easier. The kids help with the little bit of weeding and the upkeep of the boxes. I give them ownership of their own box and that helps keep them interested. I also let them pick what goes in their box as well as let them decide how to plant the squares.

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Barb — 7 Comments

Wednesday Flower Study #5-Pink Petunias

Confession: My petunias are from the garden nursery. I don’t really much like petunias but they are a happy spring flower that has brightened up our front and back decks with their cheerful blooms. My eldest son helped me pick the color and I am surprised that he picked pink because he usually picks much richer primary colors in flowers.

I don’t blog much about my oldest son because he is a very busy twenty-one year old young man who has a full-time job as a computer programmer and goes to college in the evenings. When he isn’t working or at school, he is sequestered away working on complicated homework or his various artistic ventures. Usually on the weekends, he spends his Sundays with us and for our family that means worshiping together and then spending some family time at home in the yard or outside hiking or walking the dog. My oldest is always up for a little time on the trail. He lives and works in a very technological world but he is still connected to the outdoors and feels the need to be refreshed by the sky, trees, and birds. We have some of our best talks as we share our outdoor time.

Anyway, back to our weekly flower study.

As always, we found something interesting in the Handbook of Nature Study about our subject. The story of our modern petunias is interesting and we talked about colors of petunias that we have seen in our area. We also learned that petunias are in the nightshade family. The petunia gives off its perfume at nightfall, perhaps to attract the hummingbird moths to feast on its nectar.

“With their long feeding tubes the hummingbird moths have little difficulty in securing the nectar, but bees also will work industriously in the petunias. They will scramble into the blossoms and, apparently complaining with high-pitched buzzing because of the tight fit, rifle the nectar-wells, that seem to be better adapted to insects of quite different build.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 583

The lesson suggests that each child have their own flower for observation and that they have access to a petunia bed to observe the habits of the plant. We will be adding a few more petunias to our flower garden so we can observe all the interesting tidbits contained in the Handbook of Nature Study.

There are lots of suggestions for sketches in this lesson. We will be adding to our journals as the spring and summer go by. I found a coloring page for petunias if you would like one for your nature journal.

So now it is your turn to pick a garden flower and pull out the Handbook of Nature Study and see what you can learn this week. We will be moving on to buttercups this week. We have been observing them on our hikes for a few weeks now and it is high time that we take a few minutes to really study them. You can pick any flower you have in your yard or that you have access to and can observe up close. Even if you don’t do a formal study…take a few minutes this week to share a flower with your child. After all, it is spring now!

https://naturestudyhomeschool.com/2009/07/new-outdoor-hour-challenge-ebook-garden_27.html

Category: garden flowers