Foxgloves are my cue that summer is here. Typically they bloom from mid June until the beginning of August.

They are bright & beautiful.

STEM & LEAVES, & FLOWERS

As a biennial, foxgloves do not produce flowers their first year. Instead, a simple rosette of leaves is formed that first year.

The second year produces a 3 – 5 foot tall stalk with multiple tubular flowers.

2nd year, not yet blooming

Just beginning to bloom

Lovely purple flower

Standing tall

This flower is passed its prime. Eventually, the seeds inside will drop to reseed the area.

The majority of the foxgloves around here are purple, but there are a few white ones scattered about.

POLLINATION

I have spotted moths, butterflies, bumblebees, and hummingbirds crawl in a flower tube to collect what I assume to be delicious nectar.

Peeking inside the freckled flower to spot the stigma.

WHERE IT GROWS

Often foxgloves are grown for vertical interest in home gardens.

Around my house, though, they grow naturally in the sunny areas among the trees.

They look beautiful among the native grasses, daisies and Columbia Lilies.

TOXICITY

All parts of the foxglove plant are poisonous. Ironically, for the same reason they are poisonous, is the reason the plant is used medicinally. Ingesting any portion of a foxglove can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and irregular heartbeat. The leaves can also irritate sensitive skin. The deer around here don’t even eat them.

Take a moment to enjoy the Wonderful World of Plants!

The post Pacific NW Plants: Foxglove appeared first on .

One of my favorite summer flowers around our house is the Lilium columbianum, or Columbia Lily. It is quite exotic looking compared to other Pacific Northwest plants.

This lily is native to North America and grows in open woodlands of the west. It is also known as the Tiger Lily or Oregon Lily.

THE BULB

The Columbia Lily grows from a bulb that can be eaten similarly to a potato.

THE STEM & LEAVES

This perennial plant grows quite tall – sometimes up to 5 feet.

The leaves grow in groups around the stem.

WHERE IT GROWS

We notice these beauties in the forested area, but outside the shade of the fir trees.

They are some what rare around here. They are much fewer in numbers than other flowers, such as these purple foxgloves.

THE FLOWER

Flowers not yet branched out or blooming

Around the end of June, the gorgeous Columbia Lily blooms.

Many flowers bloom from one plant.

The flowers are hermaphrodite, each one having both male and female organs.

Butterflies, hummingbirds and bees visit the Columbia Lily.

The post Pacific NW Plants: Columbia Lily appeared first on .

Indian Plum, also known as Oso Berry, is part of the rose family. Scientifically it’s known as Oemleria cerasiformis.

I am highlighting this plant because it is always a joy to see its flowers. They are one of the earliest shrubs around our house to bloom. Surely a sign that the loomy, gloomy winter is behind us. However, this year it’s still raining… a lot.

THE FLOWER

Usually I notice the flowers sometime in March. They are lovely, even though the leaves are just barely opening.

The Indian Plum produces many suckers, which can create a nice place for birds to nest and critters to hide.

This deciduous shrub is found in the far western part of the Pacific Northwest, from southern British Columbia to Northern California. It grows in moist wooded areas.

Clusters of flowers dangle from the stem. They are a great nectar source for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

The Indian Plum is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are not on the same plant. Because of this, they need insects to aid in propagation.

THE FRUIT

The fruit emerges where the flowers once were. They change from an orange color, to pinkish, to a dark bluish black.

The fruit is edible, but is bitter.

Another beautiful plant. Another reason I love living where we do.

The post Pacific NW Plants: Indian Plum appeared first on .

Spring has been off to a slow start. Not surprising with all the cold and rain. But it seems to have finally arrived in time for Bloom Day.

Not near as many plants are in bloom this year, compared to last year, but I’m sure enjoying what is showing off.

DAFFODILS
A small variety of flowers in the daffodil family are blooming in most of our flower beds.

VINCA MINOR
I love the blue/purple color of this flower. I am disappointed, though, that it’s creeping nature doesn’t keep out the weeds. And, it’s a pain to pull the weeds among all the vines.

RED FLOWERING CURRANT
The Red Flowering Currant does grow naturally around our house. I bought this one, though, and two others. They are in my Bird Village.

LEONARD MESSEL MAGNOLIA
One of the very first plants I planted when we bought our property was this beauty.

CAMELLIA
I don’t love the Camellia’s, and I don’t dislike them. They grow well and flower beautifully, so they stay.

KING GEORGE HEATHER
Heather in the front yard with our new bunny, Thumper.

WESTERN TRILLIUM
Growing among the ferns and fir trees in the natural areas surrounding our house are Western Trilliums. They are one of my fav’s.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSuzdDRhZWl/?taken-by=ridgetop_farm_and_garden

I’m hoping the weather clears up soon. My flower beds are in desperate need of some TLC. Hopefully next month I’ll have more on display.

To enjoy more Bloom Day posts check out May Dreams Garden

The post Bloom Day – April 2017 appeared first on .

One of my favorite spring plants is the Western Trillium, or Trillium ovatum. It is lovely with its showy white flower against the greens and browns of the forest floor.

Where & When Trilliums Grows

I adore trilliums. They are one of the first plants to flower near our house. It’s a sign that spring is here. I usually spot them near the end of March, into April.

I find trilliums tucked in among other low lying greenery in the coniferous forest surrounding our home.

The Stem & Leaves?

Trilliums grow to about a foot high on what is stem-like, but not scientifically a real stem. The “stem” is actually part of the rhizome.

Similarly, the plant does not have real leaves. Instead, the 3 green sections are bracts with the flower extending from it. They do function like leaves in that they aid in photosynthesis.

Color Changes

Western White Trillium with pink markings

As the flower ages it turns a dark magenta color.

Trilliums are Fragile

Trilliums are fragile. If the flower is picked, the rhizome does not get the nutrients that is needed for next year’s plant. The advice is don’t ever pick a trillium.

They also don’t propagate easily. They don’t transfer well and it can take as long as 5 – 7 years to get a plant grown from seed.

With the help of ants, though, trilliums are able to reproduce. Similar to the Western Bleeding Heart, ants aid in spreading the seed.

Beauty of the Forest

The post Pacific NW Plants: Western Trillium appeared first on .

The plant I’m highlighting for February is the Pacific Bleeding Heart, also referred to as Western Bleeding Heart. I love the delicate look to this hardy perennial. I’m also a sucker for most things purple. It is one of my favorite spring flowers.

Soon it’s foliage should start emerging. Typically April and in to May are when we see the flowers in bloom.

Where it Grows

Around our house the bleeding heart grows near the shade of the fir trees, nestled among all the other spring greens. We don’t have any right near our house, which gets quite a bit of sun. The Pacific Bleeding Heart can be found from British Columbia south into California.

Naturalization

This plant spreads by rhizomes creating naturalized areas. In our area there seems to be a good balance of these beauty’s. They are not aggressively taking over, nor are they scarce.

The Leaves

There is quite a bit of lacy foliage per plant.

Birds & the Bees

Here is a bee visiting a bit weathered bleeding heart. Hummingbirds & butterfly larvae also enjoy this plant. Deer don’t tend to eat them.

The Seed

The seed pod shoots out from the heart shaped flower.

Inside the pod are the tiny seeds. Often times ants will distribute the seeds while enjoying the fatty, jelly like goo on the seeds.

Just Lovely

The post Pacific NW Plants: Pacific Bleeding Heart appeared first on .

One of the great things about living where we do is we get to enjoy nature’s beauty every day. There are many plants growing wild I’d like to learn more about. In an attempt to do that, I’m going to pick a plant each month in 2017 and write a post about it.

I’m starting the year off with my nemesis, the Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense. The next 11 plants will probably be ones I actually enjoy, but I can’t do this series without mentioning the plant I think about most.

It is my very least favorite plant… ever. It is extremely invasive. It grows everywhere. It grows in places in my flowerbeds that the only way for to get rid of them is to pull them. I can only pull a few hundred at a time before my hands just can’t take the poking anymore.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike this thistle?

They start out like this. Smallish thistles clustered in a group.

Then they get a little taller. Now is the easiest time for me to pull them. However, we have so many I can’t pull them all. But, I do what I can. And, they always come come back. I pull the same thistle multiple times a year. I keep hoping eventually I’ll win. Certainly don’t till them back into the ground. These bastards can regrow from the tiniest discard of root.

There it is. The flower. All the pretty purple flowers laughing, knowing they are going to go to seed. I didn’t pull them in time.

They get tall and gangly. By the time they are this big, they are difficult to pull.

The seed. Look at all that glorious fluff wanting to make more thistles. Blech!

A deer down in a field of thistles. A FIELD OF THISTLES!

At least the deer eat the damn things.

Other creatures enjoy the thistles, as well. I am confident, though, that there are plenty of other things for them to graze on. The thistles can go.

The thistles grow like crazy in our fields, too. For years we didn’t use herbicides. However, I’ve given up. I don’t think there is a way to get rid of them without an herbicide. So, this year we will have to make a thistle removal schedule – and stick to it. Then do it again next year and the year after. They have got to go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoONBIB0S3o

The post Pacific NW Plants: Canada Thistle appeared first on .

Another June, another great display of color. All the flowers seem to be blooming earlier this year. I’d guess my flowerbeds are nearly at there Summer prime and summer hasn’t even technically begun.

BIRD VILLAGE

Lupine and Shasta Daisies.

Potentilla ‘Goldfinger’

Yarrow

Hairy vetch in our little meadow area. Purple is the usual color. But, I spotted a few white blooms, which I have never seen before.

SHADE GARDEN

FRONT YARD & POND

Creeping Jenny

Lavender next to the pond

Lavender ‘Grosso’ near the cement wall

Black Lace Elderberry

Thyme

WILD FLOWERS

Wild red elderberry & daisies

Foxglove

All year I wait for this time of year in the garden and it always seem to pass too quickly. I need to learn to step outside and just enjoy it, as opposed to stepping outside only to do yard maintenance.

To enjoy more Bloom Day posts check out May Dreams Garden

The post Bloom Day – June 2016 appeared first on .

• The grape vine has taken off

• I think the deer mama’s have gone off to have their babies. There are a couple yearlings walking around by themselves wondering what to do.

• Apples! We have struggled getting our fruit trees to actually grow and produce. I see quite a few apples on 2 of our trees. Woo hoo!

• Waiting impatiently for the raspberries to ripen.

• A flock of cedar waxwings have ventured our way. I love them.

• Foxgloves in bloom are my cue that summer is here!

• Sven mid chew.

• I let the cilantro flower. Oops.

• Our Littles are growing up.

The post 2016 Update – Week 23 appeared first on .

This is the extreme version of making sun prints on construction paper. I walked passed this solar print paper at the store and decided to give it a try.

The Paper

The pack I found came with 12 sheets of blue paper & a little frame to hold your treasures in place.

Creating Solar Silhouettes

We placed one blue paper in the frame. Then the kids added their collection of plants. After the plants were placed just perfectly, they layed down the top of the frame.

The directions said to create your design out of direct sunlight because the paper reacts quickly.

They weren’t kidding. In less than a minute of being outside the paper already began changing color.

You know it’s done when the paper turns a near white. This took only about 2 minutes.

We brought the paper inside & removed the plant pieces. Notice where the plants were is blue & where the sun hit the paper is white.

The directions said to run the paper under cold water, which we did. Running the water over the paper changed the blue parts to white & the white parts to blue. Now that’s some crazy science.

Next was to let it dry and the next day I hung it in our school room. Later I will have the boys add these to their nature journals.

Farm Kid2’s Solar Creation

I think this one is my favorite. I love how the daisies turned out.

We still have paper left over. What objects should we experiment with next?

Save

The post Solar Paper Silhouettes appeared first on .