Here are last year’s sunflowers starting to bloom. This year we are going to have quite a few more to share with you but last year these ended up producing an amazing amount of seeds for the birds.
For this challenge we were to plant our sunflower seeds but since we did it early in anticipation of the challenge, we are already enjoying the fruits of our labor.
We have some that are getting to be about a foot high already. I planted a mix of seeds so and in this garden bed they are all short so they won’t cover my window where I sit at my desk and look out.
I think they will look like these from a few years ago and will be multi-colored.
I sent both boys out with their nature journals to sketch some of the sunflower seedlings and here are their entries along with mine.
I think it is interesting to note how we each have our own style of recording things in our journals.
One chose to draw a more “scientific” style drawing looking at it from the side-view. One son chose to draw it by standing and looking down at it showing the leaves. Then there is my journal where I attempt to take in one whole garden box with the beans, the rudbeckia, the marigolds, the weeds, and the sunflowers.
Well, that is how we accomplished our Outdoor Hour Challenge #16. By the end of the summer we will have quite a few sunflowers to observe and draw and share with the birds.
This morning I noticed for the first time that the newly transplanted passion flower is starting to cling to the garden arch that my husband made for me a few weeks ago.
I love the twirly little way it sends out its tendrils to grab the bars of the arch.
I also was interested to find that my morning glories are starting to get their first true leaves and how differently they are shaped than the emerging leaves.
I was looking in the Handbook of Nature Study for morning glories but couldn’t find them directly listed, except for a little mention in the hedge bindweed section on pages 518-519. But the description of the leaves sounds just like the morning glory plant.
“The leaves are arrow-shaped, with two long backward and outward projecting points, or “ears”, which are often gracefully lobed. “
We are really enjoying our study of garden flowers this year. We always have a garden but this time with the focus on learning each plants name, the names of their parts, and a little about it, we are seeing so much more.
I can’t resist sharing my new birdfeeder station with you. My husband picked up the pole to hang the feeders on and I chose two different kinds of feeders, hoping to attract a different kind of bird to our yard. We are also going to be planting the Thompson Seedless grapes on a short fence in this little spot to add a little green and shelter for the birds. The vines on the fence will also hide the ugly green propane tank you see on the right of the photo. 🙂
My daughter loves all things about Ireland and she planted these shamrocks a few years ago in her garden box.
This year they are blooming with this delicate pink flower. The first photo is the flower and the second shows the leaves and plant. Interesting huh?
Here is another photo of interesting leaves from my garden. I just found the packing slip that told me what this plant is in my garden box…..Black Beauty Rudbeckia. It is a variety of coneflower and will have a dark, purplish flower when it blooms. For now, we are really enjoying the colors of the leaves and the stem of the plant.
I found on the internet that it will grow to be 5 to 6 feet tall. I can hardly wait to see it full grown and blooming. Of course I will share photos.
“Many of the most beautiful of the autumn flowers belong to the Compositae, a family of such complicated flower arrangement that it is very difficult for the child or the beginner in botany to comprehend it; and yet, when once understood, the composite scheme is very simple and beautiful, and is repeated over and over in flowers of very different appearance……The large garden sunflower is the teacher’s ally to illustrate to the children the story of the composites.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 574
This week I am going to challenge you to start some sunflower seeds growing in your garden or in a pot. If you need some sunflower seeds to plant, take another outing to the garden nursery to let your child pick a packet of their own. The idea behind starting the seeds is to provide a “laboratory” for your child to observe and learn in all summer long. Even if you just plant the seeds in a pot and watch them grow on your front porch, this is a valuable activity. If you don’t have a sunny spot in your yard, ask a friend or relative if you could plant a few seeds somewhere in their yard. Be creative. Sunflowers take about 12 weeks to mature, depending on the variety you choose.
1. Read the Handbook of Nature Study pages 574-576-The Sunflower.
Find a sunny spot in your yard or on your porch to plant your sunflower seeds. These seeds will eventually sprout and grow and provide a late summer challenge all of its own. These sunflower plants can be subjects for your nature journal as well. After the seeds have matured, you will have something for the birds to enjoy. Follow the instructions on the seed packet and get your seeds growing this week. Make sure to keep your seeds moist as they germinate.
2. Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to look for some garden flowers in your own area. If you already have some of your own garden flowers blooming, pick one to identify and see if it is listed in the Handbook of Nature Study.
3. Add any new garden flowers to your list in your nature journal.
4. Provide an opportunity for a nature journal entry. Practice your flower drawing skills that you worked on in challenge number 15. Record your flower seeds’ growth and/or record your sunflowers growth for the week. You may wish to sketch your sunflower seeds before you plant them, looking at them carefully with a magnifying glass.
5. Continue making field guide cards for your garden flowers.
6. Add flowers to your press from you nature time.
This challenge is part of my Garden Flowers ebook. This ebook has ten garden related challenges that will walk you through a study of garden flowers using the Handbook of Nature Study. In addition to the challenges already written, there will be more photos, nature journal examples, book lists, and totally new notebook pages designed to go with each of the Garden Flower Challenges.
My daughter helped me out this week by drawing sweet peas in her nature journal. She used colored pencils to make this beautiful drawing.
We also spent some time planting more seeds in the garden this week. We are using a fantastic idea I found on Cocoa’s blog for challenge number 12. If you go over to her blog, make sure to scroll down towards the bottom of the entry to see their flower garden project.
We prepared a small flower bed next to our morning glories, put some potting soil in the wheelbarrow, opened the packets of seeds and sprinkled them. We mixed up the seeds and the soil and then took handfuls and spread them on top of our new garden bed.
Here is the flower bed all seeded and ready for some water and sunshine.
We are hoping that we get a sort of wild looking mix of flowers here over the summer.
Here is a beautiful bloomer we have in a pot on the back deck. I just love the bold colors of this flower.
We are getting quite a collection of garden flower drawings in our nature notebooks. So much color and variety are found right in our own backyard.
Yesterday afternoon was a perfect time to take a walk on our local walking/biking trail. The weather has been rainy the last few days and we were ready to get out and enjoy some fresh air. The clouds kept drifting in and covering the sun but it was still warm and spring-like.
Three of the children decided to come and we had an enjoyable time walking and talking and just spending time together….as they get older that doesn’t happen as often as I would like. My middle son brought his scooter and he was zipping in and out as we just walked along.
The photos in this entry are an experiment in uploading for me so forgive me if the captions are not exactly with the photos. 🙂
This is some kind of flowering clover…I think. It sure looks like some kind of clover but this is really close-up.
Look at this guy….after all my observations yesterday of the ladybug larva, I was happy to see this shiny insect as we walked along.
Then there was this daisy and I am pretty sure this is a Mariposa Lily.
Okay, this was definitely some kind of thistle.
Don’t you love the view from this part of the trail?
“The thistle is covered with sharp spines, and these serve to protect it from grazing animals. It has beautiful purple flowers, arranged in heads similar to those of the sunflower.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 526
There is a whole section in the Handbook on thistles starting on page 524.
“Every child loves this flower (daisy), and yet it is not well understood. It is always at hand for study from June until the frosts have laid waste the fields. However much enjoyment we get from the study of this beautiful flower-head, we should study the plant as a weed also, for it is indeed a pest to those farmers who do not practice a rotation of crops.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 522
There is a section on white daisies in the Handbook starting on page 522.
“The clovers enrich with nitrogen the soil in which they are planted. They are very valuable as food for stock. Their flowers are pollinated by bees.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 594
There is a section on clover in the Handbook starting on page 591.
Sorry for all the vague descriptions but I didn’t have a lot of time this morning to get a firm identification on all of them. I will try to come back and update as I have the time to research.
This morning I was out in the yard for morning rounds and I noticed how many blackberries we are going to have on the vines. There are so many blossoms and when you examine the plant closely, there are tiny little berries forming already. I am in a constant battle with the blackberry vines in both my front and back yards. If left to grow, they would soon take over all the corners. We have worked for years to manage these creeping vines and I have come to accept that we will have few here and there and I will just be at peace with their beauty and their fruit. I love picking a handful of sweet berries as I roam around the yard.
There is no information on blackberries in the Handbook of Nature Study so I will need to pull out another gardening book that I have to learn more about them.
Do you see the little green berries starting there? So delicate and beautiful….and it holds the promise of a sweet treat in a few months.
Along the base of our foundation we always have sweet peas plant themselves and grow up among the bushes that border our house. This year they are pink. “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 pistil.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 589
You can clearly see all the parts of the sweet pea as described in the Handbook of Nature Study. I think we will use this flower for our Green Hour Challenge this week and try to draw it in our nature journals.
Can you believe how pretty these are? Such a pretty shade of pink.
If you have sweet peas in your neighborhood, you can use pages 588-590 to learn more about the sweet pea so you can share a few interesting facts with your children. There are also wonderful observation suggestions that you can use in your nature study.
My beautiful new Disneyland Rose that is blooming like crazy….so pretty.
The dianthus is starting to bloom in the butterfly garden. Heavenly fragrance. (also known as pinks or sweet williams or carnations)
Not technically in my garden but way too cute to leave out. My window cat…can you see the hummingbird feeder outside the window? She is going nuts with the hummers feeding today. And yes, that is a tent outside the window. My boys like to sleep outside as much as possible when the weather is warm enough. Why not?
This is an unidentified insect in Amanda’s garden on her hollyhocks which are already really, really tall. Edit: Someone identified this as a ladybug larva.
I love the color and shape of this leaf. I think this is bee balm but we will have to wait until it blooms since I can’t remember what it is for sure. I planted it two years ago and it hasn’t bloomed yet. Of course it has decided to grow right in among my green beans but we will just let them coexist for now.
I spotted these cute little mushrooms in the flower garden. I need to draw these in my nature journal. 🙂
These sunflowers came up all on their own in my garden box and they are the tallest ones we have so far.
That is just a glimpse into what is going on here in our backyard garden. I love this time of year when we are busy planting and witnessing the awakening of the seeds. It is a miracle each time one sprouts and I try to say a little prayer as I water and weed to thank the Creator of all things for the variety of colors and fragrances He has given us to enjoy here on the earth.
“The making of drawings to illustrate what is observed should be encouraged. A graphic drawing is far better than a long description of a natural object.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 13
As your family makes progress with their nature journals, you will find that there is a desire to start making things look a little more realistic. I thought we would take this week to challenge ourselves to practice drawing flowers with some help with internet tutorials.
Please remember that the nature journal is not the place to give drawing instruction but you could use the tutorials during your art time and then gently remind your children when it comes time for a nature journal that they can incorporate some of their new drawing skills if the opportunity arises.
I would suggest that if you have younger children, take a few minutes to educate yourself first and then share with them little hints as they try to draw garden flowers. This is a perfect opportunity for you to model positive behavior about your own sketches, showing how to make your nature journal an expression of what you found interesting during the Green Hour. If your children are a little older and you are comfortable with them following the tutorials on their own, the link below is perfect for them.
Make sure to bookmark this tutorial page for future reference. You could use the lessons as you progress through the next few weeks during your art or sketching time as a way of learning the techniques of drawing flowers in your nature journal. If you start with this challenge and draw at least one flower in your nature journal every week until the garden focus is over, you will have five flower sketches completed. Wouldn’t that be great? Remember no one else needs to see your drawings….we would love it if you would share but you can keep them private too.
“The book should be considered the personal property of the child and should never be criticized by the teacher except as a matter of encouragement; for the spirit in which the notes are made is more important than the information they cover.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 13
I guarantee you if you start working in your nature journal, your children will be more comfortable drawing in theirs too.
“As soon as a child is old enough, he should keep his own nature notebook for his enjoyment. Every day’s walk will give something interesting to add-three squirrels playing in a tree, a bluejay flying across a field, a caterpillar crawling up a bush, a snail eating a cabbage leaf, a spider suddenly dropping from a thread to the ground, where he found ivy and how it was growing and what plants were growing with it, and how ivy manages to climb…..The skill of drawing may be addressed in some other way, but not in his nature notebook, that should be for him to fill as he sees fit.” Charlotte Mason volume 1, page 54-55
Outdoor Hour Challenge #15
How to Draw Lesson-Flowers
1. Read pages 13-15 in the Handbook of Nature Study-The Field Notebook. This will refresh your memory about what is the purpose and aim of the nature journal.
“Nature-study offers the best means of bridging the gap that lies between the kindergarten child who makes drawings because he loves to and is impelled to from within, and the pupil in the grades who is obliged to draw what the teacher places before him.”Handbook of Nature Study, page 17
Keep all this information in your mind as you gently go about your nature study time and then encourage journal drawing.
2. Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to look for some garden flowers that you can draw in your nature journal. The object this week is to find something that sparks your child’s interest and that he desires to record in his journal. If it is a flower, great. If it is something else like a spider or a bird, allow them to draw that instead.
Here are a couple of my favorite how to draw flower books that you will love!
Please note these are Amazon.com affiliate links to products I have used and loved!
3. Give an opportunity for a nature journal entry, work on drawing another garden flower in your nature journal. If you are growing seeds, use this time to record their growth perhaps measuring and recording the plants height or counting the number of leaves it has so far. All of these subjects make great additions to the nature journal.
4. Add any new flowers to your list of garden flowers. If you are making field guide cards for your garden flowers, add another card this week.
5. Add any flowers you collected to your flower press. We have found you can add another sheet of paper and another cardboard sheet to the mix and you will have a multi-layer press. Check on your flowers from last week and see if they are ready to go into your nature journal. See challenge 14 for more information.
This challenge is part of my Garden Flowers ebook. This ebook has ten garden related challenges that will walk you through a study of garden flowers using the Handbook of Nature Study. In addition to the challenges already written, there will be more photos, nature journal examples, book lists, and totally new notebook pages designed to go with each of the Garden Flower Challenges.
This week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge for us was very enjoyable. Our flower garden is just bursting with color and with garden flowers as our focus we decided to read and observe a special kind of flower, the composite.
“Many plants have their flowers set close together and thus make a mass of color, like the geraniums or the clovers. But there are other plants where there are different kinds of flowers in one head, those at the center doing a certain kind of work for the production of seed, and those around the edges doing another kind of work.”
“Can you see that what you call the flower consists of many flowers set together like a beautiful mosaic? Those at the center are called disc flowers; those around the edges ray flowers.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 503
We had a great time studying these flowers and now we are going to be looking closer when we see a new flower to see if we can tell if it is a composite or not.
Here are some of our flowers that we observed.
Close up of a pink gilardia…can you see the anthers?
Yellow gilardias
Tickseed or corepesis
Pin cushion flowers where you can really see the flower parts
Pink cosmos, first one of the season
Close up of the different kinds of flowers making up the composite. Can you see the disc flowers and the ray flowers?
My son’s nature journal entry.
We then put the flowers in our press. I am planning on making a flower calendar to make a record of flowers blooming in our yard for each month of the year. This will be a beautiful way to document our flower study throughout the year by pressing some flowers blooming in each month, pressing them, and then affixing them to card stock with the month neatly labeled on each page. I will share our first month’s page when these are ready to be added.
Another great week in our garden. My son and I both learned something new and enjoyed our time outdoors with a focus and purpose.
