Blue dicks are the purplest purple of the spring in our world. I am thinking that the wildflowers on our usual trail are almost a full month behind their usual bloom schedule. I love knowing the rhythm of the growing things in our part of the world and being able to anticipate the blooming sequence.
There are meadows and trail edges filled with Blue dicks along with orange California poppies. Those two colors together are a feast for the eyes.
The other amazing purple flowers blooming right now are the Purple Chinese Houses. They are just starting to bloom and in the next few weeks they will bring the trailsides alive with color.
These are Indian Pinks….not very pink but rather a deep reddish orange. There are more of these blooming than usual.
The fennel is not as striking as some of the other wildflowers but it has a really nice shape.
Here is another kind of Miner’s Lettuce. You can really see how it grows in a rosette shape and then has delicate flowers at the ends.
Here is the first of the Pretty Faces. They are a really soft yellow and I like the way they look as they begin to open up. Maybe this one should go into my nature journal…
I almost missed this one! This is Hairy Fringepod and it makes me happy. There is just something about this plant that seems so special and unique. It will eventually bloom.
Here is a new wildflower for our list. I think it is a Woodland Star. It is in the saxifrage family which I am beginning to be able to pick out when I am identifying flowers.
This is certainly not a lovely wildflower but a really interesting insect that I learned about a few years ago….it is a Green Stigma Hangingfly. You can click on the image and go over to Flickr to see the largest size to really get a good look at this amazing insect.
I took quite a few more photos but this entry is getting really long so I will save some for another entry later this week. Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the colorful flowers from our part of the country (Northern California).
If you are interested in seeing more of my wildflower studies…you can click over to my Yosemite Wildflower blog and see some from past years.
Wonderful! We just enjoyed a delightful nature study in Northern California ourselves … such a difference! 🙂
My youngest (10yo) subscribes to your blog & loves reading posts like this one. Yesterday, we were driving to visit family and noticed wildflowers in the highway median. She asked what they were, and I guessed on a few. She said, “Those white ones look like ones I’ve seen it on Barb’s blog.” At 1st she said she thought it was called Victoria’s mantle, and then decided it was Queen Anne’s lace.
Anyway, just thought you’d enjoy knowing you have a few young readers who learn a lot from you, along with us moms!
Jamie,
How awesome is that? You are going to have a little naturalist yet! If she ever needs any help identifying flowers…tell her to send me an image.
Thanks for letting me know…always nice to know there are real people out there reading the blog. 🙂
Beautiful flowers! We have 2 crocuses now!! LOL
Jessy
I haven’t been to your blog in so long, and guess what, I showed up on wildflower day! It looked like you had a wonderful hike! So nice you are having spring. Flowers are late here too, but maybe there will be more of them than usual. We are hoping for some warmer days soon. I could stand to see some wildflowers again.
Hi! I just found your blog from Amanda’s review at Homegrown & Beeyoutiful & I’m so glad I found you! Your challenges and studies look wonderful & are just the thing I’ve been looking for, to bring nature study into our homeschool curric. It is hard to find time with two little ones to research/plan what to do, and here you’ve made it so easy! Looking forward to getting started 🙂
Blessings,
Collette
Welcome Collette!
I am so glad that you are going to join us!