Jun. 17, 2007
WIldflowers
I have been wandering around taking pictures of flowers, so I had to think of an excuse to use up all this memory on them. One thing I was really excited about when I moved here was all the wild flowers. Where I grew up in central OR it was really dry, so there were only a few desert type wildflowers. One of my favorites there was a teeny tiny bright yellow daisy. Then there were the beautiful lavender Seco (sp?) lilies. These that I have taken pictures of are just what are growing on our property, there are many more than this in the area.  These are Native Daylilies. They grow in huge swaths down the creek banks and along side the roads. These I put here, originally there were none growing on our property. Sorry, this one is a little fuzzy, the camera focused on the leaves instead of the flowers.  This is Chicory. I *think* this is what indians and old time cowboys used as a coffee substitute. But I have to say I think my information comes from books I read when I was a kid.........I was big into Wild West adventure books.  Brown Eyed Susans. The color is a little washed out, the sun was too bright when I took it. These are scattered all over our hill. I have can't bring myself to mow them, so I will mow around them till they are done blooming.  This beautiful orange flower is Butterfly Weed. As you can see it can grow in very dry conditions. We get more of these each year on our land, and down the road are a couple of fields covered with them.  This is our wild honeysuckle. It isn't originally native here, so like many non-native plants it has become very invasive. I would say that probably four of our over seven acres are covered with it, and if we didn't mow the rest it would be completely overgrown. However, the aroma is heavenly. When it starts blooming the air is heavy with the sweet scent. It blows through your car as you drive down the road, and wafts through open windows into your home. You can pluck single flowers, bite of just the tip of the tube, and suck it's sweet nectar.   This is Queen Annes Lace. It grows all over the place here. I love this flower, and let it grow freely around the edges of the yard and in flower beds if it comes up in the right place. Some of the plants get close to four feet tall and have a couple dozen huge flower heads on them. If memory serves me it is part of the carrot and parsnip family. There is a wild parsnip that is poisonous, I'm not sure if this is or not. Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars love this plant.  Wild single petaled roses. These are starting to get chewed, they are a favorite snack of the Japanese beetle. There is a good sized patch in what I consider part of my lawn that I (gasp!) mow down constantly. I never thought I would see the day when I mowed roses. Early in the spring there is another rose that blooms profusely along the road. It has clusters of small white flowers that have a very spicy smell. They bloom at the same time as the blackberries, and you have to look close to tell the difference. the canes climb way up into trees and hang down. There are also some double bright pink roses that do the same thing. I have been scouting for a safe spot to pull over near these doubles to take cuttings and try to root them, so i can have some on my hill. I picture them cascading down the upper bank along my driveway.  OK, this isn't a flower, but it was a flower not too long ago! i just liked the picture! Blackberries that are not yet ripe. Another thing I mow a lot of. They would take the whole hill over too if I didn't constantly battle them. Bushes are loaded this year, and I have been busy mowing honeysuckle so we can get to the berries. Oh, there is a flower in the picture. See the little white flower in the bottom right corner? That is a nasty weed with large and painful thorns. These are poisonous, in the Nightshade family. By the way, did you know that tomatoes and potatoes are also in the Nightshade family? That is why a lot of people are allergic to tomatoes, they are slightly poisonous!! Anyway these love my flower beds and spread underground by runner. Very hard to get rid of. They get large blueberry size berries that are green then turn bright yellow in the fall.  This is yucca, and I was surprised to see it growing on the roadsides when i moved here. I always thought of it as a desert plant. But there it was. There was none on our hill, so i planted these here too. This is not a good picture, and this one is a small young plant, but they get big fat stalks loaded with the white flowers, very striking. The stalks are also very interesting in the winter when they are dead. Well, that's it for the wildflower tour for now. Good night!! Amy Deuteronomy8:3b......people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord. |
Comments
Jun. 18, 2007 - Untitled Comment
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by Jun. 26, 2007 - Untitled Comment
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by Jul. 2, 2007 - Untitled Comment
|
|
|
|
|