FAVORITE WILD FLOWERS.

     I'm not much for flowers in a garden. But when it comes to wild flowers I'm interested. You will hear me say often that that is my favorite flower. If you check you'll notice that I list  few flowers as my favorite.

     Right now one of my favorite wild flowers is in full bloom. The yellow lady slipper is at it's best now.  The yellow lady slipper is one of Far Side of Fifties favorite wild flowers. She carved some a few years ago and I was lucky enough to win a carving. 

     So I went to my favorite patch of yellow lady slippers on Sun afternoon. 

     

FATHER'S DAY RAMBLE

      I spent a few hours of my father's day rambling over 300 or so acres of park known as Heritage Ranch. I've spent many hours in this area cycling, cross country skiing and leading my bird watching group through the are. I have spent much time in the area and know it well.

     Yesterday , I wanted to check on a patch of tiger lily  (western wood lily) or (Lilium philidelphicum) and brown eyed susan  (wild gaillardia) or (Gaillardia aristata).

     I was a few days too early as I only found one tiger lily in full bloom 

     However thee were other plants in bloom such as the wild rose. 

     It was a windy day so some of the smaller plants I photographed and not in focus but worth a look.

WHAT I DID FOR FATHER'S DAY

     For many, Father's Day has a tradition of a special breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are good times and traditional celebrations.  It's been interesting reading blogs and seeing what people did to celebrate Father's Day.

     Well, what did I do. I'm not big on going out to restaurants to celebrate. There are many more things I would rather do. Both my kids live very far away. I got a phone call from one and an email from the other. The phone call came just a few minutes before I was leaving.

    Yes, I was going out to one of the local parks that has natural habitat. I was actually going to one of the larger sanctuaries. Yes, this is what I would rather do. Surprise! Surprise! The Micro manager came with me. The Micro manager has not been feeling well at all so I as surprised she came.

   So in two hours I got my fix of flowers birds and critters. I didn't get a photo of a Richardson's ground squirrel (gopher) . It would have been easy but they entertained me and I forgot about a photo.

    

I THINK I FINALLY CAUGHT YA!

     Starting early in the year...February, March , people start showing what is in their gardens. They are very ready to show off lilacs,peonies, bleeding hearts, daffodils, tulips...and many more. Now from my perspective, I enjoy the photos of spring flowers. In February , March I still have serious snow and frigid temperatures. It will be a long time until things start to turn green and longer yet until things bloom.

    Well, I finally caught up to ya! Yes, I may be last but I still get to post photos and brag...if anybody's listening.

    I keep telling people that our plants develop rapidly once we get the long days. The sun rose at 5:14 this morning and sets at 9:55 tonight so that means we get 16 hours an 41 minutes of sunlight. That's a lot of time for plants to make chlorophyll.

     My lilac has a purple tinge to it rather than a pale pink.

  
    we had another windstorm so many of the lilac petals have been blown off providing me with some lilac carpeting.

  
     I like irises.

  Now the light wasn't difficult here but the photographer failed to notice the situation.

  
     I have some showy peonies.

A Rose in the Woods

      I went for a short walk in the woods this weekend and found two things I was looking for.

       First, I found the Common Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii). This plant grows abundantly around the edges of native habitat. It blooms in early June . These flowers certainly brighten up the woods. Going for a walk can make you very cheerful and hopeful.

      The second plant I was looking for was the Yellow lady slipper (Cypripedium calceolus). They grow widely here and appear to like areas of soil that have been disturbed as they like to grow in ditches. The ones I was looking for had been planted in a sanctuary. We took them from an area that was to be developed
Apologies for not having a photograph . I took pictures and when I came home I deleted pictures  that didn't turnout well. Only now did I notice that I deleted all Yellow Lady Slippers.


     Blooms are coming quickly now so the next flowers I will make sure that I keep some photos

Wonders of Wildflowers

        One of the pleasures of spring and summer is the constant parade of wildflower blooms. We are fortunate to have some natural habitat which provides us with an interesting variety of blooms. I am not a plant expert in any way. I can appreciate and recognize those who do have expertise , knowledge and talent in this area.


        So I'm doing a small post on flowers and I don't have any pictures. My photography is brownie hawkeye technology! Just kidding. I do have a small digital camera which has limited capabilities.


       There are several blogs which I follow where the authors are excellent photographers and display a good knowledge of plants. I appreciate these bloggers and follow them regularly and suggest that you take a look at their blogs.


       Since I have spent time on large tracts of natural habitat when I was young, I came to appreciate wild flowers. Several years ago my brother took me to one of these undisturbed areas when the western wood lily (lilium philadelphicum) was in full bloom. I had forgotten how abundant they were in this area. It was a real treat. My summer is complete once I find brown eyed susans(gaillardia aristata). Who could not love the prairie crocus(anemone patens)? Finding them come up right after the snow melts is a real treat. When hiking in high mountain meadows the crocus is very common in July.


      Last Saturday I had to visit the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary just to see yellow lady slippers(cypridium calceolus). They are numerous in certain areas of the sanctuary.
     Now I could continue with flower sitings I like , but these are highlights for me. We get a treat from our wildflowers all spring and summer