A Rainbow Walk

I went for a walk around Federal Hill today to get a little sunshine. Along the way I decided to take pictures of flowers and plants of different colors of the rainbow. Not quite sure what all of the different plants are but that is why I have downloaded the PlantSnap app, you can load a picture from your phone and it will give you options for which plant you may have. It has been useful in helping me identify some of the unique flowers I find on my walks. What colorful things would you find on your own rainbow walk? Explore the colors of the rainbow on your next adventure, Meet Me Outdoors.

Exploring the Rain Garden

A few years ago I ran an elective class that helped maintain a garden across the field from the school. It has likely been as long since anyone really looked over it. The garden was designed to act as a rain garden and a learning garden. As a rain garden the plants are native to the region and everything grows without much maintenance. When I ran the elective I tried to have a section or two of the garden for a vegetable garden for the kids to maintain. With no one maintaining it over summer between school years the vegetable garden patches are lost among the rest of the plants. What brought me to the garden this time was that it was the end of the school year and I wanted to add my class's compost collection to the compost pile.

The path I usually take to walk through the garden was over grown when I arrived the other day. The alternated path took me over the water that runs through the garden. If you look carefully in the first picture you can see the bit of purple flowers that caught my eye.  You can see it the little dip in the garden that is where the water collects when it rains. I wouldn't say it is big enough to be called a creek, but it is enough that you have to hop over it to get the back main part of the garden. 

The plants may not seem like much from the distance, many are about waist height on me. I don't think I would let the younger kids I work with run through it now since most of the plants would be taller than them and I would lose sight of them. 

Along the edges of the garden, especially near the dip in the ground, I could see some interesting flowers of different colors. The one I could identify was that purple flower, you can see my attempt to take close ups of the flower with my phone on the left. The flower is a type of iris. I like the colorfulness of it. It is days like that one when I walk through the garden when I miss having one.  Right now all of my attempts to plant things from seeds has only given me sprouts but no plants from that. My geranium is the only plant that I have had for a few years that is still growing nicely, hopefully it will flower again soon.  While I may not have my own garden it is nice to be able to see other ones near by. Hope you also get to see what your neighborhood gardens have to offer this spring, Meet Me Outdoors.

Richmond, VA - Maymont Park

Spring is here!  It finally feels like springtime and I was able to go visit with some friends down in Richmond, VA. While there we went to Maymont Park which is a great place for families. There are different habitat regions, gardens, and farm animals.

 I really enjoyed seeing the different animals and gardens.  The first animals we found were bison, they were on the way up to the Children's Farm. At the farm there were goats, chickens and a cow. Of course I got pictures.  Though it was hard to get some of the animals to stand still for the camera, the bison were the only ones to sit still. 
Some of the animals at the park that were in the wildlife exhibits had already gone in for the night. But the ones that were still out did come and say hi.

While we stuck to the Children's Farm, wildlife exhibits, and some of the gardens, there was far more to explore than we had time.  There is a Nature Center & Visitor Center which highlights the regional habitat. 

The chickens definitely kept moving around the most.  This is why they are off to the side of the picture.

 No, this isn't a two headed cow, the second one just had to be in the picture. 

This was nice stream we passed moving from one habitat area to the next. We were heading to the Japanese garden.  Walking through the gardens was really peaceful, a nice break from city life. 

This was a surprise find in the Japanese gardens. There was a snake slithering by and it looks like it had dinner recently. The snake is a bit camouflaged on the grass near the tree, but look for an oddly smooth branch like animal with a large bump in the middle.  It was certainly an interesting discovery.

I am looking forward to the new season and getting a chance to explore more outside.  Time for all of us to go outside and explore, Meet Me Outdoors.

Ready for Spring - Tomato Plants - update

Back in February I planted some tomato seeds with the kindergarten class at Sunday school. We transplanted them a few weeks ago and you can see how well they are growing. 

Kindergarteners' tomato plants

The ones in the kindergarten are doing really well. They have a tray under them and are watered 2-3 times a week.  They are due for another transplant soon. Next week the kids will get to take them home and can plant them in their gardens or into a bigger container for those who don't have garden space. 

Tomato plants need to be acclimated to the outdoors before they are planted, this is known as hardening.  The idea is to start them in the shade and each day you can bring them more into the sun, and for longer periods of time.  In the readings and advice I have gotten from various websites about growing tomatoes and from the garden center tomatoes when transplanted to the outside or to larger pots can be buried deeper than the previous container. That means you can bury more of the stem, up to almost the top leaves of the plant. Tomatoes will grow roots along the stem and this makes it a stronger plant. 

Preschoolers' tomato plants

The preschool class only meets every other week so I bring the plants home. There were a few stunted plants that needed to heal and set roots. These will likely need more time before transplanting.  Maybe after spring break we will plant them. Sing to your plants and watch them grow, Meet Me Outdoors.

Butterfly in the garden

I was working in the garden with my nature class and came across a butterfly. I didn't want right scare it away before getting a good look at it and maybe a picture.  What you see is the first shot and last as I got closer.

I have narrowed the species of butterfly down to a variegated fritillary. I am still questioning the exact species but it is in the fritillary family.

Robinson Nature Center

Recently I visited the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD.  There is a great exhibits with lots hands-on and interactive features, which is great for all ages.  A section that talks about the local wildlife through the Chesapeake area as well as how the land was used where the Nature Center is located. 

While many who know me would think my favorite part was the NatureSphere, a digital planetarium and dome-style theater (and don't get me wrong it is up there as a favorite) I really enjoyed the nature trails out around the Nature Center.  The building has a roof garden that rolls off with lots of flowering plants to the tree cover where the trails are found.  Among the garden and flowers I found butterflies.  The two you see in the pictures are of the swallowtail family.  They get that name because their hind wings have a little drop shaped part similar to the tails of the swallow bird. The swallowtail butterfly is the largest butterfly in the United States.  Most swallowtail butterflies are found in more tropical climates.  The two common ones you see in the US is Tiger Swallowtail, with the yellow and black stripes, and the Spicebush Swallowtail, with the colorful dots along the bottom of its hind wings. Other butterflies which seem to not want their picture taken are the little white ones.

 Butterflies are pollinators going from flower to flower spreading the pollen around as they enjoy the nectar for food. The second picture has another pollinator buzzing around the flowers, can you see it?  It's a bee! The nature center actually has a bee hive that you can see into as the workers come and go.  No worries, the hive is fully inclosed but outside in the gardens you can watch as they collect the nectar to bring back to be made into honey.

The trails weave through the forested areas, over and around creeks and along streams. Trails are all less than a mile to explore and are nicely labeled with little trail markers (blazes) of either a hiker or an arrow. 

Whether you are inside exploring the Nature Center's exhibit area, seeing a show in the NatureSphere or simply exploring nature itself this is a great place to do it.  Find a nature center in your area and have an adventure, Meet Me Outdoors.

Little purple flowers

When I came home from work today one of my neighbor's kids was out riding her trike along the sidewalk.  She stopped when I pulled up my car and couldn't wait to tell me about some flowers that seem to have gone missing from the lawn of my house. Earlier this spring, maybe around late February or early March (I know spring is technically end of March but it was a mild winter) there were these nice little flowers that popped up around the lawn. They had broad petals, a light purple in color and were relatively low lying along the ground, should have taken a picture.  Anyways, my neighbor was eager to point out that they not there anymore, and wondered where they went. My answer was that the flowers may show up again later but for now there are yellow flowers in the lawn. She pointed to some other smaller purple flowers on her lawn that were near some yellow ones. I was happy that she was noticing all the different plant life in our area, even if most people would identify them as weeds. 

Between when I last saw the purple flowers of a few months ago and today there have been a series of mini-snow storms that could have frozen some of the early bloomers. However the daffodils in the median of our road toughed it out despite the bit of snow and are now in full bloom. Also in bloom are cherry blossom trees, I passed a few with white flowers and pink flowers on my drive. I hope to go out and take some pictures.  Keep exploring your neighborhood green spaces, Meet Me Outdoors.  

Patterson Park Pagoda

I know it has been a few weeks since I last posted, but I have been going outside and exploring the great outdoor adventures that Baltimore has to offer.  One of them is seen on the right. The Patterson Park Pagoda. Great alliteration, right?

Anyway, I saw Patterson Park on the map and as I am still new to this part of Baltimore I asked my aunt if she'd take me to see the park.  We were only able to walk around part of the park since it was so big.  The Pagoda had actually been something that she wanted to see at the park and go to the top of but has never had the chance to because it was usually closed when she was there.  Since it was a Sunday, and not yet the end of October, it was open to visitors we took turns going up (we had brought her dog with us for a walk around the park but dogs are not allowed to go in the Pagoda).  I went up first, and for those who don't know me I am actually a tiny bit afraid of heights, so I only made it to the first level up and didn't want to stay there long.  It was a great view but I was not ready to climb to the top for the full city view so I came down and let my aunt take her turn. She went all the way to the top, and had me take a picture of her there with her camera phone.  Unfortunately, my aunt didn't stay in one place when I switched to my camera phone so she isn't in the picture you see with this post.

Patterson Park has stuff to do for the whole family. Has lots of green space to explore and play, places like the Pagoda overlook the park, athletic fields, community gardening space, nice paths to walk/run/stroll, and in the summer there is a pool while in the winter the ice rink opens.  I know that I will have to go back many times to see all that there is to see. So come along, Meet Me Outdoors.

Community Gardens

Practically everyday I take the same shortcut that follows a bike path to the train.   I pass the same trees, the same little garden patches and the same sign that says "Community Garden."  But until the other day when I walked by I didn't stop to look at what this patch of greenery really was.

There are flower patches, small vegetable patches, a tin-man of sorts made from recycled parts and some very odd looking trees.  For some reason what was coming from the trees is what made me stop and look.  Picture a tree that seems to have  long green beans growing from it and that is what this tree looked.  I took photos of this tree and when I got home I used the dichotomous key same as I had used earlier for my Ten Step Challenge tree to find it, however it was not listed.  This meant I had to use a more advanced one, but I am skeptical of what the key told me is really the same tree because the pods in the picture of the key look different then the one of the tree I found. The key said the tree is a Redbud tree because it has a heart-shaped leaf and a legume for fruit. I decided to check my Golden Guide Tree book, just to be sure.

This is the tree that has green bean shaped fruit

As it turns out, this tree may not be a Redbud but a could actually be Catalpa tree.  The beanlike seed pods of this tree are closer to what the picture shows in the guide book that I have than what is shown for the Redbud tree.  I'll have to take a closer look again next time I go by to be able to identify it properly.

Leaves of the tree I found

After taking the pictures I continued walking and admiring the garden and wondering if there are other community gardens out there that I did not know about. As it turns out Somerville, town outside Boston, MA where I was walking, has 12 community gardens and there are many more through out the Greater Boston area.  If you go the website of the American Community Garden Association you can use the search box in the bottom right and corner to find community gardens in your area.

Is there a community garden in your area?  Go and explore some of the different gardens and tell me what you find.

Come along and Meet Me Outdoors!