The Learning Garden

After a month of mysterious symptoms and illness in Ron that we feared might even be fatal, we are miraculously back to more or less normal around here.  The weather has been beautiful for the past couple of days, and we've been taking some mini motorcycle rides.  Yesterday we went out to Placida, which is only about 20 miles from our house.  We explored all the interesting roads and developments that are off the beaten track and new to us.  We found this interesting brown park sign:  "Learning Garden" and decided to check it out.

It turned out to be the most interesting garden - all kinds of Florida plants that I see all the time and have wondered what they were.  Here we found a couple of acres on a little lake with neat gardens with cement walkways winding throughout and signs to identify all the plants!

This tree with pretty blossoms is called "Powder Puff"

I was surprised how many I already knew - like Hibiscus

 

Lantana

Agave

Loquat, and some of the palms.

 

This was called "Bleeding Heart" but looked nothing like the ones we have at home.

Who knew Mahogany had a big fruit that was nearly as big as a grapefruit?

I've seen these beautiful lavender blooms covering trees, and wondered what they were.  Now I know:  Orchid tree.

 

Definitely a place to remember if I start wondering about the name of a plant.

Native Plant Identification

We are fortunate to live on a fairly wild native plant rich 25 acres here in Washington State.  My parents taught us about the native trees and shrubs and wildflowers.  All my siblings are familiar at least with the common names for the plants that grow in our woods.   I am constantly amazed at how little the average child knows about the plants that are native to our area.  Most can't tell the difference between a fir and a cedar.


My sister, Mona, has been visiting and we have been brainstorming a class for plant identification.  We decided that strolling the trails through the woods, touching, feeling, seeing and smelling the various plants would be better than just a lecture.  So we dug out all our plant and tree books (we found six between us) and discovered just how much we had to learn!  


By cross-referencing the books and descriptions, we came up with a class that we thought might be appropriate for 10-15 year old kids.  When we had a family gathering this past weekend, we asked the grandkids if they would like to take a walk in the woods.  (This is one of their favorite things to do when they visit, so they all quickly jumped at the chance.)

Mona pointing out the way a fir tree branches droop.

Even the little ones enjoyed gathering cones and seeing the difference between a Douglas Fir and a Cedar and a Hemlock cone.

We found several varieties of edible berries on our hike.  Red huckleberries, salmon berries, and small blackberries. Mona did a fantastic job of pointing out the differences in needles and leaves and how plants grow in the wild.  We are thinking about offering the class to the local 3rd or 4th grade class when school is back in session.