Kentucky Wildflowers in Spring

I found this wildflower by the creek side. I was particularly excited to find this one because I think it’s so unique in a couple of ways. First, the petals are super thin and plentiful and also have neat little nubs on the ends. Second, it has huge maple-like leaves (I’ve never seen a wildflower with such big leaves).

Another wildflower which I have seen before but got some beautiful pictures of today is the Common Chickweed. Despite how large it looks under macro photography, these flowers are really small, so small you might step over them and not even notice them. But oh how beautiful they are! Something I highly recommend is training yourself and your children to notice the little details in nature. When you take nature walks keep your keen eyes focused and stop frequently to bend down and point out even the small things. For our family this has fostered our love and appreciation of creation, including even the tiniest of things.

And two more of my favorites are starting to bloom: Philadelphia Fleabane and the simple but beautiful Red Clover.

]]> http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2010/04/new-wildflower-discovery-goldenseal/feed/ 4 http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2010/04/rue-anemone/ http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2010/04/rue-anemone/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:27:45 +0000 Melissa http://inthesparrowsnest.com/?p=1019 New Wildflower Discovery! I found these beauties blooming up on the creek side in the woods. They are called Rue Anemone…aren’t they gorgeous?!

Kentucky Wildflowers in Spring

And when we got to the back part of the trail we all gasped at the beauty. The woods floor was carpeted with Spring Beauty wildflowers!

These tiny, delicate flowers come out very early in spring on the wood’s floor to catch the sun’s rays before the leaves fill in a canopy overhead.

They are such a welcome sight in spring, with their oval white petals with candy pink stripes.  And don’t you just love the beautiful pink anthers?

I know that Spring Beauties won’t be in bloom for long and then they’ll be gone for another year, so we took plenty of time to enjoy them.

Here are “my spring beauties” having fun collecting bunches of these beautiful wildflowers. We will be pressing some of these for our nature journals.

Oh, please don’t miss out on these beautiful moments with your children in nature this spring!

"Harold, they are making me nervous, there are too many of them."

How about you? Do you have a funny caption to go with this picture? I’d love to hear!

The corn is turning brown,

The trees in apple orchards,

With fruit are bending down.

- taken from September by Helen Hunt Jackson

Crowns of Goldenrod are showing themselves across the fields and along the creeksides. This is a sure sign of Autumn around my house. On my nature walk just a bit ago I snapped this photo of one with the sun beginning to make its descent in the western sky behind it.

There are other signs of Autumn showing themselves all around. Be sure to take a nature walk this week with your children and make a verbal (written if you want) list of what signs you are observing. Here are a few things we have noticed:

• Fall Wildflowers – such as the Goldenrod and all kinds of Asters
• Lowering Temperatures - temperatures this week will be mostly in the high 60′s
• Migrating Flocks of Birds – we are just starting to see them
• Leaves Changing Colors and Falling – leaves are just beginning to change colors and fall off the trees, especially the early sleepers like the Black Walnut
• Insects Diminishing – because of the cooler temperatures we are seeing less and less butterflies and bees
• Clearer Skies – less humidity in the air makes for crystal blue skies; this is a GREAT time for cloud gazing
• Less Daylight Hours
• Squirrels and Chipmunks Gathering and Cracking Nuts

What signs are you seeing in your neck of the woods? Or perhaps you are on the other side of the equator and are beginning to enjoy the signs of spring!

Also, along the trail we came upon the biggest bunch of Spotted Jewelweed I’ve ever seen. The morning light was filtering through the woods just perfectly, making the dew drops sparkle and the fire orange color of the flower really showed.

And last but not least is another "new to me" wildflower, the Swamp Milkweed, found right down next to the creek.

Sunrise 

 Morning Sky

 Breathtaking Storm in the Distance with Rainbow (I have never seen such an impressive sky!)

 Early Spiderwort

 Spotted St. John’s Wort

 St. John’s Wort

Jewelweed (Spotted Touch-Me-Not) 

Eastern Cottontail Friend Near Jewelweed 

Rough Fruited Cinquefoil 

Ozark Tickseed Sunflower 

Please be sure to take the time to stop and watch nature going on around you. I am blessed over and over again by the beauty that God has given us to enjoy and bring us peace, if we only take the time to notice.

Anyways just wanted to post some photos of things that have been going on around here in our nature times.

Alex continues to spend lots of time in his second home…the creek.

I’ve still been keeping up with my love of taking wildflower photos. This has been one of my favorites of a Deptford Pink. 

Cindy and I are currently writing six new units, one of which is on butterflies, so I’ve been busy taking lots of butterfly photos, including this one of a gorgeous Monarch. 

Another one of the six units will be on conifer trees, so a trip to the local arboretum was due to observe and collect cones… 

…to do lots of fun experiments with! 

Such as learning about how conifers spread their seeds by dropping one and watching it twirl around. 

And then I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the Queen Anne’s Lace which seems bigger and more abundant than I’ve ever seen it this year. 

I’ve also been enjoying the Robin’s Plantain, which also seems to be doing really well this year. It has to be all the rain we’ve had… 

 …which has also made the woods more green, thick and lush.

Today, Alex found an awesome find…a beautiful orange bracket fungus! Yes, I know I’m a strange one to get excited about fungus, but it was such a gorgeous “sherbet orange” color, and once you study fungus you find it rather fascinating. 

Well, that’s about it for now! More structured school will be starting up for us again soon. We pretty much school year round, taking breaks when we need and want. But a more concrete schedule will be resuming shortly. I have changes in mind for my blog as we begin another school year…stay tuned. Perhaps that just what I need to find that inspiration again!