Farm Plants in Wisconsin at the Carlson Farm

Iowa's Wild Rose

This was in the ditch at the farm, the state flower of Iowa, wild rose. Some days, finding beauty in the ditch is just the thing to lift my spirits and remind me good and lovely things are everywhere.

They are. Even when the flash flood wash out the roads just for the hours of my little girl's party. Just when everything is dark, wet, and gloomy. Holly? She doesn't care. She ate cake, wore a sparkly crown and a new yellow dress, and smiled through the day knowing that cancelling means she'll get one extra cake day. She inspires me not to let moments of disappointment ruin the day, because good things will come our way soon enough. Goodness. She rode her new bike in the rain and ate cake until she was silly.

Lily's Clay Work

 Lily takes a clay class downtown every Tuesday for 6 weeks, three times a year. She loves it. LOVES it. Amy, the teacher, is so good with her and the sensory of the clay calms her. She is learning skills that help her idea come to life and each session learns something new, either about clay work or leadership.

 I love taking the class with her. I also love the building. I love junk, I love tools, I love the dirty of creating architectural elements. I love the lines and the smell and the feel of the old building.

Perhaps, Lily isn't the only sensory kid in our family.

100 Plants in Our Yard......

The 100 Species Challenge

Otherwise known as why my husband cannot remember where his keys are.....his brain is filled with plant names. Oh my.

1. Participants should include a copy of these rules and a link to this entry in their initial blog post about the challenge.

2. Participants should keep a list of all plant species they can name, either by common or scientific name, that are living within walking distance of the participant's home. The list should be numbered, and should appear in every blog entry about the challenge, or in a sidebar.

3. Participants are encouraged to give detailed information about the plants they can name in the first post in which that plant appears.

4. Participants are encouraged to make it possible for visitors to their blog to find easily all 100-Species-Challenge blog posts. This can be done either by tagging these posts, by ending every post on the challenge with a link to your previous post on the challenge, or by some method which surpasses my technological ability and creativity.

5. Participants may post pictures of plants they are unable to identify, or are unable to identify with precision. They should not include these plants in the numbered list until they are able to identify it with relative precision. Each participant shall determine the level of precision that is acceptable to her; however, being able to distinguish between plants that have different common names should be a bare minimum.

6. Different varieties of the same species shall not count as different entries (e.g., Celebrity Tomato and Roma Tomato should not be separate entries); however, different species which share a common name be separate if the participant is able to distinguish between them (e.g., camillia japonica and camillia sassanqua if the participant can distinguish the two--"camillia" if not).

7. Participants may take as long as they like to complete the challenge.


We opted for a simple list. Dearest sat down, inside, and did it. He didn't even look out the window. Could be said first 35 or so are the plants that make up our "lawn".....just kidding. Sort of.

From Dearest: "We used a limit of within three city blocks 'cause that's what MP remembered the rules being. I think I could get another hundred pretty quickly if I expanded the area a bit. Also, apologies all around - as MP pointed out I missed snapdragons . . ."

1. kentucky blue grass
2. rye grass
3. bindweed
4. quack grass
5. plantain
6. purslane
7. wandering jew
8. milkweed
9. thistle
10. ragweed
11. poison ivy
12. creeping charlie
13. virginia creeper
14. mullein (these are good luck!)
    
15. dandelion
16. queen anne's lace
17. sunflower
18. woodland violet
19. millet
20. locust
21. mulberry
22. redbud
23. clover
24. horseradish
25. white oak, burr oak, pin oak
26. silver maple, red maple, sugar maple
27. sumac
28. lily of the valley
29. ostrich fern
30. Cinnamon fern
31. maidenhair fern
32. bridal wreath
33. chrysanthemum
34. peony
35. "tea roses, wild roses, fairy roses, rugosa roses"
36. day lily
37. Asiatic lily
38. tiger lily
39. allium (flower onion)
40. chives
41. "red onion, yellow onion"
42. lambs quarter
    
43. Egyptian walking onion
44. bunching onion
45. "tomatoes - early, pear, brandywine, cherokee"
46. "peppers - jalapeno, Serrano, green bell pepper, habanero"
47. spinach
48. black eyed susan
49. winter squash
50. "apple - granny smith, rome beauty"
51. peach
52. pear
53. daisy
54. lilac
55. birch
56. magnolias
57. Jerusalem artichoke
58. ribbon grass
59. hosta
60. lungwort
61. basil
62. mint
63. veronica
64. Japanese maple
65. German bearded iris
66. Siberian iris
67. Mexican top hat
68. staghorn mushroom
69. celosia
70. false spirea
71. lambs ear
    
72. burning bush
73. tulip
74. daffodil
75. hyacinth
76. grape hyacinth
77. gladiolas
78. hydrangea
79. wagelia
80. moss on the roof!
81. crabapple
82. hackberry
83. honeysuckle
84. walnut
85. ash
86. spider wort
87. Easter lily
88. holly
89. marigold
90. petunia
91. spider flower
92. raspberry
93. blueberry
94. tree of heaven
    
95. strawberries
    
96. boxwood
97. Indian paintbrush
98. purple cornflower
99. bleeding heart
100. Japanese spurge