Wednesday, April 13, 2011

April (not May) Flowers

Last April, I was lucky enough to spend a day in the Park fishing with my Dad, where we had a great time even though the fishing turned out to be pretty lousy. This year my Mom wanted to come along to spend some quality time with her son and to enjoy some of the wildflowers that bloom in the spring. I haven't shared a trout stream with my Mom since I was a kid and I have hazy memories of those trips with her and my Grandma. Once again the fishing was inexplicably lousy, but it didn't matter, and the only thing that could have made the day better would have been if Granny was able to join us.

My Mom is a wealth of information when it comes wildflowers - knowledge passed to her from her Mom. I'm afraid that I'm a lost cause when it comes to this, for even though I enjoy looking at them when they're in bloom, the names go in one ear and out the other. Even though the flowers weren't quite in full swing yet, we saw plenty as we worked our way up a favorite east slope creek. So here are few of them, compliments of my Mom.

This one is called Bloodroot. The sap in the roots of this flower was used by Native Americans to color their clothing and make war paint. Cool.

Photobucket

Bluets:

Photobucket

Great Chickweed:

Photobucket

Unknown:

Photobucket

This one is called Coltsfoot, is edible, has a sweet taste, and is used to make cough syrup. I felt fine so I didn't try one...

Photobucket

When my Mom wasn't identifying the flowers, she was busy taking some video of me not catching fish. Here's a quick clip that pretty much exemplifies the day as far as the fishing was concerned. It's a good thing the company was good.

Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. KiwiApril 14, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    Nice pictures! It might be helpful to learn some wildflowers. Like many other cycles in nature many animals and plants "wake up" together after winter. Just seeing some flowers in bloom may let you know in advance what hatches might be coming off when you reach the water you intend to fish. When I notice certain signs in the seasons I know when to pack it in or break out the rod. (i.e. when certain ducks start showing up at my favorite pond in the fall, the end of bass fishing is just about over).

    ReplyDelete
  2. MarkWApril 14, 2011 at 9:50 AM

    Love to take pictures of wildflowers when I am out. I am looking into investing in a digtal SLR/macro set up. Just curious what you use and if you have any recommendations (please email me

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dan ShortApril 14, 2011 at 2:39 PM

    Kiwi, yes I've been meaning to learn more about our flora and fauna. I've been fishing these streams for long enough to know what's going to be hatching, but it's still something that would be good to know more about.

    Mark, I use a Pentax Optio W90 point and shoot. I've never owned an SLR so I won't be any help with that. But if you're looking for a good point and shoot, I can recommend the Pentax. It's got a good macro feature and it's waterproof.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DougApril 14, 2011 at 8:09 PM

    The unknown plant is a Senecio - probably S. vulgaris, Common Groundsel. Got all of these in my garden. I can do the wildflowers and can fish a little too.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)