California poppies Archives

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Barb — 1 Comment

Winter Weeds Along Our Walking Trail

Our world is slowly turning green and it feels nice to walk along and see the plants starting to awake for spring. We had our eyes open for winter weeds and we found some new things and some familiar things to share.

The side of our walking trail is covered in this plant with the nicely shaped leaves. I am going to watch it as the season progresses to see exactly what it is.

The California poppies are starting to grow and I can hardly wait to see their happy orange little faces in a month or so. Isn’t it interesting how it can grow right there right on the rock? Not much soil here but there are plenty of poppies sprouting up for us to enjoy.

Here is what our mullein looks like right now….all brown and the tops are covered in lots of seeds.

The Handbook of Nature Study says, “Later the capsule divides partially in quarters, opening wide enough to shake out the tiny seeds with every wandering blast. The seed, when seen through a lens is very pretty; it looks like a section of a corncob, pitted and ribbed.” (page 538)

This is the most interesting of the dried weeds that we observed. I like the way the bottom of the stalk looks like it is the skirt of the plant.

I can’t remember what this looks like in the spring or the summer….Does it have flowers? What do they look like? Now is the best part of the nature study experience. We get to watch this spot as the seasons progress and then see if we can identify it with our field guide. There is always something to learn and I am glad our Creator made us to be curious and he filled the world with interesting things to occupy our minds productively. (If you are a Bible reader: Ecclesiastes 3:10-14.)

Here is what it looks like close-up.

The top looks like this with its thin branching arms.

Our Queen Anne’s Lace looks pretty much like it did in the autumn.We had planned to pull up a specimen to observe the roots but we have snow today! We will have to wait now until we can get outside to finish our study.

I couldn’t decide on what I wanted for a journal entry this week so started a bulleted list of weeds we observed. I will add a few more as the month goes on and we see some more. I had room so I made a list of random other subjects we have come across this past week…sometimes it is just nice to have a little reminder to look back on in the years to come.

One last thing to share with you. Phyllis had this link in their winter weeds study:
Weed Collection Board – awesome idea!

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Barb — 4 Comments

Hike to the River: Spring Wildflowers

Friday we took a long afternoon hike to the river near our house. This is our usual trail but we went the entire distance to see how high the river is with some of the spring runoff from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The wildflowers are amazing right now…here are a few favorites.

This was really the star of the wildflowers on this particular hike, mustang clover. This flower is blanketing the hillsides. What a show!

Here is a photo of it along the trail.

The other wildflower making its glorious appearance is the California poppy.

We made it to the bottom of the river canyon and realized our beach is completely covered in water right now. We had to be content to sit on the rocks and watch the water rush by.

On the way back up, we stopped for a break in the shade. The insects were buzzing and we even saw our first mosquitoes of the season.

Here is a new to me wildflower on this trail, purple monkeyflower. There was a patch growing right along the trail on a moist bank.

I also saw for the very first time on this trail some pearly everlasting.

Two new wildflowers to add to our running list for this trail.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our outing. We definitely had a wonderful time on this spring afternoon.

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Barb — 7 Comments

Wednesday Flower Study #3 Another Successful Week

I found it surprising that the California poppy is covered in the Handbook of Naure Study since it is usually thought to be a book for the East Coast and not the West. I thought the information was really well done and the black line drawing of the poppy on page 564 was really perfect for helping us draw a poppy in our nature journal.

My earliest memories of poppies are when I was quite young and my aunt taught me that you could “tip their hats”.

“One of the most interesting performances to watch that I know is the way this poppy takes off its cap before it bows to the world. Like magic the cap loosens around the base; it is then pushed off by the welling, expanding petals until completely loosened, and finally it drops.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 563

These are really small poppies…the ones I remember as a child were much bigger but you get the idea.

This is such a silly little video but please envision me perched precariously on the side of the hill trying to hold the camera and to tip the cap at the same time. 🙂

I wish I could share with you how lovely these flowers are because my photos just do not do them justice. The hillsides and banks alongside our hiking trail are a blaze with poppies right now.

“….we can never understand its beauty until we see it glowing in masses on the California foothills.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 563

The orange glow of California Poppies really cheers me up and it reminds me that it really *is spring*!

“This is not nearly so pretty or so descriptive as the name given to this poppy by the Spanish settlers on the Pacific Coast, for they called it Copa-de-oro, cups of gold.”

“In California it should be studied in the spring, when the hills are covered with it. But the plant may be brought into the schoolroom, root and all, and placed in a jar, under which conditions it will continue to blossom.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 565

“The insects in California take advantage of the closing petals and often get a night’s lodging within them, where they are cozily housed with plenty of pollen for supper and breakfast; and they pay their bill in a strange way by carrying off as much of the golden meal as adheres to them, just as the man who weighs gold dust gets his pay from what adheres to the pan of his scales.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 565

I think I would like to sleep inside a poppy blossom…..all surrounded by soft orange petals.

One last very cool thing to share with you. Last week we took a different fork in our usual trail. The trail wound around a long ways and gave us hints of a view of the river below. We kept saying that we would go one more bend and one more turn before we decided to stop. Well, we did that for a good twenty-five minutes until we reached a dead-end. Guess what was there?

What is it?

It is an abandoned gold mine, pretty much filled up with water……I will save more photos for another entry. 🙂

We will be studying our Bleeding Hearts this week. Although the most striking flowers in our garden right now are the pear blossoms. They are so pretty and delicate.

Now it is your turn. Pick a flower from the Handbook of Nature Study or from your garden and make your own flower study. You do not need to pick poppies….pick something you have in your area. Here is the first entry in this series to explain more about Wednesday Flower Study day.

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

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

Early Spring Wildflowers (Part 3)

Popcorn flower
(found in the meadow, sunny location)

“There should be from first to last a steady growth in the intelligence of the child as to the places where certain plants grow. He finds hepaticas and trilliums in the woods, daisies and buttercups in the sunny fields, mullein on the dry hillsides, cattails in the swamp, and water lilies floating on the pond. This may all be taught by simply asking the pupils questions relating to the soil and the special conditions of the locality where they found the flowers they bring to school. ”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 458

We are adding a few new flowers to our list of early spring wildflowers along our walking trail. I am also updating a few photos to ones taken with my older camera with the better macro lens.

Chickweed…..now I see it everywhere! Even in our backyard!
(along the trail)

Spring Beauty
(along the trail)

Unidentified as of today.
(along the trail in the shade…very low to the ground with interesting leaf shape)

Fiddleneck
(sunny areas)

Here is another photo of Fiddleneck

And another Fiddleneck.

We found a whole patch of Miner’s Lettuce.
(growing in patches along the path…moist areas)

The California poppies are just beginning to bloom on our hiking trail.
(sunny hillside, along the trail)

Common Owl’s Clover
(Note to self: This was on the walking trail and not the Red Shack Trail. Growing along side the trail and on a sunny hillside.)

These flowers are all from last week’s hikes. I am trying my best to keep current.

We had a snowstorm yesterday morning! It all melted rather quickly though and today we were back to our spring like weather.

Tomorrow I will try to post about our bird study and then on Wednesday we will share a garden flower study from the Handbook of Nature Study.

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Barb — 8 Comments

They Don’t Call it the Golden State for Nothing

What a gift I received yesterday.

We were out on our afternoon hike and we rounded the bend and we all immediately stopped in our tracks. The view had changed from the day before. The hills in the distance were a bright orange…..with California poppies.

I tried to zoom in as much as I could to show it more clearly but this was the best I could do.

Overnight the hillside had transformed into a carpet of golden poppies.

I have lived within two miles of this wonder and have never seen it so beautiful in 29 years.

Amazing.

Posted on March 10, 2008 by Barb — 4 Comments

California Poppies and John Muir

Time for poppies. I love it when I see these golden orange flowers along the road and on the hillsides because I know that spring has arrived in our part of the world.

Isn’t this a happy flower? No wonder it is our state wildflower.

From the Handbook of Nature Study, page 565:
“The California poppy is native of California; there it blossoms during the months of February, March, and April in greatest abundance. It is found in the desert as well as among the foothills.”

Pages 563 to 565 in the Handbook of Nature Study are devoted exclusively to the California poppy. The HNS also has a lesson on poppies in general starting on page 560.

Now this little beauty was starting to bloom on the same hillside but I don’t know what it is.

This I do know and it is purple vetch….anything purple is okay in my book.

Quote from Muir Among the Animals:
“When California was wild, it was one sweet bee-garden throughout its entire length, north and south, and all the way across from the snowy sierra to the ocean…..Descending the eastern slopes of the coast range, through beds of gilias and lupines, and around many a breezy hillock and bush-crowned headland, I at length waded out into the midst of the glorious field of gold. All the ground was covered, not with grass and green leaves, but with radiant corollas, about ankle-deep next the foothills, knee-deep or more five or six miles out….Sauntering in any direction, hundreds of these happy sun-plants brushed against my feet at every step, and closed over them as if I were wading in liquid gold.”

I can close my eyes and imagine how beautiful a place John Muir found in the early days of California’s history. If you are a fan of John Muir’s, this is a must read book.

Tag: California poppies