Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Wildflowers: June 08, 2010


We were lucky enough the other day, to find a Bluebead Lily or Clintonia borealis in bloom, a native plant that blooms in June. I rooted around in my archives,  last summer I had photographed the blue berries that are formed. The berries are poisonus.

Indian Paintbrush or Castilleja coccinea is another native plant that we enjoy catching in bloom. There seems to be more areas of this plant blooming this year..last year we had to go twenty miles north to find any at all. People that live in the western part of the US of A are blessed with many different varieties of paintbrush. We are happy to have two varieties. There is supposed to be a yellow flowered paintbrush in Minnesota..I have not seen that one yet.

How about sowing some Wild Oats or Uvularia sessilifolia another native wildflower. This one was single stemmed with only one flower. An elegant little flower easily missed on the forest floor.

Large Flowered Bellwort or Uvularia grandiflora, a native wildflower, only two species of this plant are found in Minnesota. The flower looks a bit droopy naturally.

The Wild Geranium or Geranium maculatum is a native plant, it has just begun blooming in our area. Most references say it just blooms in the spring. I am almost positive it blooms throughout the summer, so that is one plant I will have to keep an eye on all summer.

As most of you know, I love the Conservationist writings of Aldo Leopold..today I will share with you his thoughts on Land Ethic..it was true in the 1940's when he wrote it, and it is just as true today as I share it with you.

Aldo Leopold and Land Ethic

"The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.
This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helter-skelter downriver. Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these 'resources,' but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural state."

Yeah, I know, I am in love with this guy from long ago, he died before I was born...I wonder what he was like in person.  Did his friends and relatives think he was off the wall, weird, quirky??  Whatever..he words inspire me to look around and pause..and perhaps you will pause sometime today to appreciate something in nature before it escapes us all.  And No, I do not intend to have you read Leopold's entire book on this blog..but if I keep quoting from it and you keep reading my blog you may want to read it yourself.  I am always on the lookout for paperback copies of A Sand County Almanac...to share with others:)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your posts about wildflowers. Love the Indian Paintbrush especially. I browse through a lot of old books at different stores. I'll keep my eye out for this one.

Linda said...

I'll have to keep an eye out for my own copy....I like it!

Dorothy said...

Hi and thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your comment! I love wildflowers of all kinds! Some call them weeds....but if it blooms, it's a flower to me! I always want to stop and make pictures of them on the roadsides! Thanks for your comments on Joe and his recovery. He has never been sick but this accident has given him the opportunity to prove his true colors! He is one brave trooper and is doing really well. Re-hab is next.

Emma Rose said...

We always love seeing your flowers. So many are new to us. We have something growing in the yard that is probably a weed but it is too pretty to pull! I'll try to snap a picture and email it to you.

Emmma Rose and the Duchess

Lanny said...

Indian paintbrush is my excuse to go for a ride up to Mount Rainier. And it is always blooming up in my favorite huckleberry fields in Sept. Maybe we should use it for wedding flowers.

Really, in all honesty, we aren't sure when the wedding will be, the girl's daddy is still freakin' out a little. Poor abused Dirt, with four daughters. So we're waitin' for the Holy Spirit to send him his own invitation, then we'll know I guess. But you just keep showin' up on my stoop and you'll be the first to know! Hey, by the way, we watched "New in Town" again when Anna got back and the girls wanna know, do you talk like the tapioca lady? That would be way cool in our book!

Lynda said...

You are so brilliant in your plant knowledge. Thanks for helping us appreciate their beauty even more.

Patsy said...

Now Lanny's comment would be a great post I would like to read more about lol
great post!
Patsy

LadyFi said...

Amazing how what Leopold says is even more relevant today than it was back then.

Great pics - although I'd be scared of picking those poisonous berries instead of blueberries.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Lanny and Patsy too! Yes, I probably do sound a bit like Blanche Gunderson in that movie "New in town" but no one ever mentions it up here..cause we all think everyone talks like that! :)