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I am a huge fan of Monarch butterflies! By default, I am also a fan of the plants that feed the monarch caterpillars - the milkweed. This time of year, the milkweeds in the field by your house are starting to die off and release their seeds, like the one in the picture, which makes them super easy to spot. The Milkweed is a native plant to North America with over 100 different varieties. Inside … [Read more...]
Have you seen the amazing work of spiders? {Spider Webs}
I just finished reading Charlotte’s Web to my youngest, and like most children, he was captivated by the spiders incredible spinning skills. Every time we read this classic we become keenly aware of the spiders in our little patch of earth. And that’s how we came to spot this dew-kissed spider web carefully set between two trees in our backyard. Spiders spin their webs in all different kinds of … [Read more...]
Warning! Mini-seed bombs are heading your way! {Nuts}
Listen to this InstaScience nature study: It’s that time of year again - the time when you are afraid to walk under any type of tree that has nuts! Gravity doesn’t help the situation, but the squirrels assist the situation by hurling nuts towards the ground at lightning speeds in an effort to break their tough exteriors and enjoy the yummy goodness inside. True nuts are dried fruits with … [Read more...]
Wonderful flowers for your winter world {Pansies}
Every year as the brilliant colors of the summer flowers fade, I like to plant a few pansies. And I am not alone, along with mums pansies are among the most popular cool season blooms. Not only are they are easy to grow, but they provide beautiful color throughout late fall and into winter. Pansies are part of the viola family, which contains 500 species - including pansies and violets. Pansies … [Read more...]
Maple Tree {InstaScience}
Fall is here! Pumpkin-Spiced Lattes abound as the green landscape fades into reds, yellows, and oranges. I love the crisp beauty of fall, but my favorite thing to watch is the change in the local maple trees. Maple leaves display gorgeous colors that are the hallmarks of fall. There are approximately 128 different kinds of maple trees, but the most common are the sugar maple, the red maple, … [Read more...]
Lamb’s Ear {InstaScience}
Have you seen those soft, velvety and silvery grey-green plants in your next-door neighbor’s garden? Those low-growing, soft textured leaves belong to the ornamental plant, known as the Lamb’s ear. The scientific name of lamb's ears plant is Stachys byzantina and is a native to Turkey, Iran and Armenia in Europe. The plant can best be described as "fuzzy" or "velvety" and the leaves are shaped … [Read more...]