According to a recent article in The Wichita Eagle, this has been an unusually good year for wildflowers due to the long cold winter and then immediate summer-like (hot!) weather. We seem to have skipped spring altogether, but I won't complain since the flowers have been so beautiful and prolific this year. Here's what's been blooming around our house this past week or so:

Each morning I like to start my day by taking a walk around our property to check out what's newly sprouting and what's in bloom. I get quite attached to a few of these "wildflowers" (aka weeds!), and get quite distressed when my husband mows down one I've had my eye on.  Here's what is currently blooming:

Other Names: Tragopogon major, Buck's Beard, Go-To-Bed-At-Noon, Goat's-Beard, Joseph's Flower, Noonflower, Noontide, Star of Jerusalem, Western Goat's Beard, Yellow Goat's-Beard, Yellow Salsify.

This plant originated in Eurasia and Northern Africa and was introduced into the U.S. at the beginning of the 1900's as a garden plant. It is now naturalized over much of the U.S.. Flowers generally open in the morning and close by noon (though this is not exact). Edible uses.



Oxalis, the Greek for sour, applies to all sorrels because of their acid juice. No native plant has leaves so sour as the wood-sorrel. The acid resembles that of a lemon; hence the leaf is very pleasant in flavor, and is not only relished by the rambler in the woods, but in salads.

Every child knows how wood-sorrel 'goes to sleep' by drooping its three leaflets until they touch back to back at evening, regaining the horizontal at sunrise - a performance most scientists now agree protects the peculiarly sensitive leaf from cold. The leaves are more sensitive than those of any other of our wild flowers, closing during darkness or at the approach of a storm.
 
Names given locally to the plant in the Old World are wood sour or sower, cuckoo's meat, sour trefoil, and shamrock -- for this is St. Patrick's own flower, the true shamrock of the ancient Irish, some claim. Alleluia - another folk-name, refers to the joyousness of the Easter season, when the plant comes into bloom in England. - Wild Flowers Worth Knowing by Neltje Blanchan (c. 1917) and Wild Flowers, Vol. 1 by Anne Pratt

The leaves, flowers, and bulbs can be eaten fresh or cooked. However, the fresh leaves and stems contain oxalic acid and can cause poisoning if consumed in large quantities. Wood sorrel contains significant amounts of Vitamin A. More info here and here.


White clover blossoms were used in folk medicine against gout, rheumatism, and leucorrhea. It was also believed that the texture of fingernails and toenails would improve after drinking clover blossom tea. Native Americans used whole clover plants in salads, and made a white clover leaf tea for coughs and colds. White clover is thought to clean the system, decreasing irritation and muscular activity of the gastrointestinal tract. It is also used to decrease the activity of the central nervous system. Like red clover, it was thought to give anyone who carried its leaves the ability to detect witches, sorcerers and good fairies in his presence. It also was seen as representing the Trinity by Christians.

As-Yet-Unidentified:


Wildlife


Also spotted: Numerous bald eagles and two coyote.

Regrettably, it's been awhile since I posted much of substance here. The reasons are many ~ I've been in a funk over homeschooling for the past month or so that I can not seem to shake, I've been über busy with the garden - watering, transplanting seedlings, planning, planting, etc., and lastly, I had the [brow lift] surgery for my migraines nearly 2 weeks ago that I'm still trying to recover from. Actually, I think I'm just overwhelmed by life right now.

My surgery went well, but the swelling and bruising is SO awful, I cannot imagine anyone subjecting themself to this for cosmetic reasons, yikes. Perhaps it will eventually be worth while, but right now it's a serious inconvenience, and an embarrassment whenever I have to venture out in public. Also, I've still managed to have some pretty intense headaches in the past week or so. Sigh.

As for my homeschooling woes... It seems that every few weeks of school, I go through a spell where I'm plagued by self-doubt ~ pondering our failures, questioning whether anyone is learning anything, wondering if I'm doing the right thing by homeschooling, etc. Periods like this make it all too easy to get discouraged by the ceaseless grumbling over school work, and lately this negative mood has just been hanging on (and on). It's very hard for me to be enthusiastic about anything right now, so we've been keeping work pretty light, and frankly, not very interesting.

In history, we had a mini-unit on Charlemagne - utilizing lots of primary source material - that dragged on and on. Now we've embarked on a study of feudalism which is slightly more exciting. Our CLAA memory work has not been going well, I'm beginning to accept that perhaps we're not up to a program SO intense. Math has been unremarkable, as usual, and science has been quite spontaneous. Everything else is being tackled in bits and pieces. I'm hoping that I'll feel more like myself next week.

For science, among other things, we've been learning about wildflowers (aka common weeds) in our own backyard. I just received the excellent Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification, and will be trying to put together a more formal, organized plan using this, among other resources. Here's what we've learned about thus far:



The first "wildflower" we spotted in bloom this year was Henbit, which began blooming here during the last two weeks of March. Henbit is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and a winter annual or biennial that is native to Eurasia and Africa. In the United States it has become a common, agressive weed most often found in fields, garden plots, pastures, lawns and waste areas, with a preference for disturbed areas.

Young leaves are edible and healthful and can be used as a pot herb or in salads, my children also enjoy sucking the sweet nectar out of the flowers. It is an important nectar and pollen plant for bees and also greatly enjoyed by free-ranging chickens (including ours!).

Henbit is easily confused with Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) ~ more information on the two can be found here. Some great pictures and additional information can also be found at Discover Life. 


Next in bloom, beginning the first week of April, was Shepherd's Purse. Shepherd's Purse is a member of the Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) family which includes mustards, cabbages, broccoli, turnips, cresses, and their many relatives. The plant's name comes from its triangular purse-shaped seed pods; the four white petals of its flowers are arranged in the form of a Greek cross, a common characteristic of the Cruciferae family. In Kansas, it blooms from March - June.

Shepherd's Purse begins with a basal rosette of toothed leaves, similar to a dandelion. Young leaves are edible and healthful, mild in taste, and can be used as a pot herb or in salads. A native of Europe, the plant
has become naturalized over much of the United States and can be found in waste areas, lawns, gardens, barnyards, cultivated fields, and roadsides.

More about Shepherd's Purse can be found at Wildman Steve Brill's site; a lesson on Shepherd's Purse is available from Outlines of Lessons in Botany by Jane Newell.


Dandelions also began blooming here during the first week of April. The root, leaves and flowers all have both medicinal and culinary uses. According to this article,

• Dandelion root can be roasted as a coffee-substitute like chicory, or boiled and stir-fried as a cooked vegetable.
• Dandelion flower can be made into a wine, or boiled and stir-fried as a cooked vegetable.
• Dandelion greens (i.e., the leaves) can be boiled, as you would spinach, and used as a cooked vegetable, in sandwiches or as a salad green with some "bite." The leaves are high in vitamins A, C, and Iron. 

Dandelion leaves are best when they've just emerged in early spring; flowers should be harvested early to mid morning. We made Dandelion Cookies (they weren't very popular) and plan to make Dandelion Syrup. More dandelion recipes can be found at Cooking with Dandelions.

More about Dandelions can be found at Wildman Steve Brill's site, also at Dandelions are Super Foods.


I was most excited to discover large patches of Heartsease in our back field one morning this past week. In ancient times the plant was frequently used for its potency in love charms, hence perhaps its name of Heartsease. In many old Herbals the plant is called Herba Trinitatis, being dedicated by old writers to the Trinity, because it has in each flower three colours.

Heartsease (aka Johnny-Jump-Up or wild pansy) is a wildflower native to Europe and a member of the Violet (Violaceae) family. Here in Kansas they bloom from March - April. Native Americans used the plant to treat coughs, colds, and headaches.

For last Friday's nature walk we decided to re-visit Pawnee Prairie Park, since we'd never seen it not flooded. We had a nice but rather uneventful walk...and fortunately we left just in time as yet another thunderstorm was looming!