There was so much to see on our latest nature walk that I have to split the post into two. While the previous one was about the animals we saw, this post is about the plants we saw. More specifically, the spring flowers.
1. Daffodils
2. Crocus
3. Plum blossom
4. Cherry blossom
I've also been confused for a long time between cherry blossoms and plum blossoms, as both flowers look very similar and they blossom at the same time. Luckily I'm not the only one to have asked this question so someone very knowledgeable in this area has pointed out a good way to distinguish between the two: check whether the petals have a split end. The one with the split end is the cherry blossom, the one without is the plum blossom.
5. Blackthorn flowers
This is another to add to the overall confusion. Its flowers look exactly the same as that of the plum blossom. So how does one distinguish between the two? The plum tree has been in my back garden for years, so I've seen its fruit and therefore knew for sure that it is a plum tree. Also, the plum tree is a tree, while the Blackthorn is a shrub, which is revealed by the shape of the full-sized plant.
For the blackthorn flower, we were at first also confusing it with the Hawthorn flower (which again looks almost identical to the Blackthorn flower). Fortunately, we are again not the first to be confused by this, so here is a good explanation that helped us with identifying the flowers.
6. Hyacinth
7. Lesser Celandine
8. Primrose
9. Cyclamen
10. Common Field-speedwell
11. Garden Grape-Hyacinth
12. Greater Periwinkle
We also saw a few types of flowers that are not strictly spring flowers, as we see them all through the summer and autumn as well:
1. Common daisy
2. Dandelion
3. Lungwort
Since the spring blossoms last only for a very short time, we collected a few of them from our garden and pressed them in the flower press that I've been meaning to use for years. We'll check the press in a few weeks' time to see how our collection turns out.
This post is linked up to:
- Nature Study Monday: It's March! NSM! Link Up!
- Hip Homeschool Hop - 3/25/14
- Entertaining and Educational - Science of Light
- Collage Friday - Great Homeschool Convention Recap
- Weekly Wrap-up: The One with the Crazy March Snow
- Country Kids from Combe Mil: Hunting for Frogspawn & Finding So Much More
- The Homeschool Mother's Journal (3/29/14)
- Science Sunday: Science Activities for Kids
Your nature walk posts have me absolutely itching for spring! We are expecting a huge snow storm tomorrow, no gorgeous plum blossoms or peacock butterflies here for quite some time. I hope you get to enjoy many more nature walks!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get spring soon, Marie! The temperature here has just dropped to single-digit again so it's been quite chilly and frosty in the evenings and in the mornings. I was glad that we took our walk when it was sunny and warm!
DeleteYou have spotted so much. I didn't know the difference between plum and cherry blossom before so thank you! I will go round looking carefully now.
ReplyDeleteMe neither (about the plum and cherry blossoms)! Isn't it a pity that the school curriculum doesn't emphasise more on nature study, since there is so much to learn from what's around us? :-)
DeleteHwee,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful nature walk! I especially enjoyed looking at the primroses. They remind me of the three years I lived in Wales while I was at university. Primroses grew in the woods near the university. I collected some and used them for my final dissertation. I can't remember what I was investigating. It was a long time ago! I did a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in botany.
Thanks for bringing a touch of spring into my rather dismal wet day!
You're very welcome, Sue! Thank you for letting me know that my post has brighten your day. :-) Wild primroses and indeed many other wild flowers have their unique rustic beauty, which is quite different from their more cultivated garden cousins.
DeleteBotany is a fascinating subject. Wow to your majoring in botany! You must know lots about plants. Do point out any mistake you spot, Sue, especially in my botany-related posts. It'll be great to learn the correct things! :-)
Hwee,
ReplyDeleteI have forgotten so much of what I learnt at university. I doubt very much that you make mistakes but even if you did, I probably wouldn't even realise! Sadly botany wasn't my passion. I really should have done an English degree. These days I love looking at flowers and taking photos of them but I am certain you know more about plants than me.
I remembered what I was doing with the primroses.I was measuring their respiration rates at different temperatures. I used a huge machine that lived in a room of its own. The details are hazy. I know I used other plants too, probably comparing them.
The details into which subject specialists in university study is amazing, especially when they are equipped with specialised equipments that are difficult to acquire for home use. Your course sounds like a fascinating and intense study. I'm sure that intense training has equipped you in other seemingly unrelated areas in your life, even if it didn't seem that way at first. I can think of many specific areas of training that I've had in the past that don't seem to be obviously relevant to anything that I do now, but I'm sure no experience of learning is ever wasted. :-)
DeleteThat's really interesting about plum and cherry. We used to have a cherry and we now have a plum. You'd have thought I'd have noticed some difference. That said, it's only since I've home schooled that I actually pay attention!
ReplyDeleteI really love your photos.
Thanks, Claire. I've only started to pay more attention to nature since homeschooling. Prior to this, I didn't know that there are so many types of ducks, since every water bird looked the same to me before, i.e. that they were all "ducks". :-)
DeleteI really appreciate the detail in your nature posts, Hwee. Like Claire, it's only since we've been homeschooling that I've paid much attention to the plants we are blessed to see around us throughout so much of the year. Botany is absolutely not my strong suit or even a keen personal interest, but I enjoy it so much more for knowing a little about what I am seeing. I remember taking a sketchbook into the garden with the children, once, and drawing this lovely little blue flower I'd probably never even noticed before. I got such a thrill from identifying it later from my drawing as common speedwell!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your thrill of discovery from identifying the flower, Lucinda. I feel the same when we identify ours. :-) I feel that we become more grounded as we get to know our natural environment and its inhabitants better. Britain has a wonderful heritage of a love for its land and its countryside, and it'll be shame not to learn a little from the rich knowledge that is available to us.
DeleteAhh, I want flowers. It's not quite spring here yet, though the snow finally melted. We've had snow, hail, and rain this week - all 3. Sigh. Thank you for sharing the pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Tristan. We didn't have snow this year, but we've had a lot of rain and hail. Hope you get spring where you are very soon!
DeleteSo jealous, we don't have any flowers coming up yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it won't be long before you see some flowers your way, Mama Bird. :-)
DeleteThis is really helpful for me as I took photos of flowers and I dont know their names =P Now I do well I bookmarked this post so that I can go back and re-read everything when its time for me to go out and take photos again =)
ReplyDelete#countrykids
It's satisfying to know the names of the flowers we see on our walk. I'm glad you find this post useful, pixiedusk. :-)
DeleteLovely post. The walk home from school is our time to spot the different flowers of the season. The lungwort confused me at first as we call it Pulmonaria. I didn't know that name. #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteWe tend to learn the common name of the flower first before going to the more scientific name. I'm glad you've pointed out the other name for the lungwort, so that we now know both! Thanks for stopping by. :-)
DeleteA wonderful sighting of so many spring flowers. We have most of these coming out on the farm at the moment too. So pretty it is my favourite time of year. I have learned something new on the cherry and plum blossom too. Thank you for sharing on Country Kids.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Fiona. Spring is such a busy time on the farm. I'm sure you must be very busy at the moment! :-)
DeleteI like the identification. I wonder if the flowers I transplanted today are Primroses. The leaves look similar to the ones in your photos. I'll have to check.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love how you linked to more information for each flower, that's a great resource!
ReplyDelete