Hiking and Shades of Summer

It has been a while since we were able to blog.  Last Saturday we went to the Chubb Trail.  It was Jasmine's first trip to the woods.  We checked out what was growing.  We saw an abundance of Anemonella thalictroides, a plant I was familiar with from gardening but that I hadn't seen growing before in the wild.  The Anemonella had a variety of colors and sizes of flowers from a lavender pink to white.  Jasmine noticed that the flowers had different numbers of petals.  

Vincent, Jasmine and I matched paint samples to the flowers, moss, cedar berries, and leaves we found.  There were a few colors we couldn't match.  We took photos once we found a match, but the camera didn't register our colors well.  

Spring is quite late this year, or so it seems compared to last year which may have been too early.  The redbuds were just starting to color up on our April 12 hike, last year dogwoods, redbud and maple were all in full bloom on March 31 and had been bitten by frost by April 6.

Today Jessica and Vincent worked on researching park policies, while Jasmine finished a fellowship application for Shaw Nature Reserve.

Jessica, Jasmine, and I also walked outside for a few minutes to check on what is new.  Violets and Dandelions are blooming, early blooming maples have set seed, elms have set seed and are beginning to leaf out, and the shub honeysuckle leaves are about 1" long.  

We talked about what makes a plant a weed, and places in the US that sometimes don't have electricity.  Jasmine was curious about American Indian Reservations.  Jasmine wants to see a farm.

That's all till next time!

Leah