Handbook of Nature Study

Brand New! Outdoor Hour Challenge: Indian Paintbrush Wildflower Nature Study

June 25, 2021 By Barb McCoy Leave a Comment

Brand New! Outdoor Hour Challenge

Indian Paintbrush Wildflower Nature Study

There are so many species of paintbrush that you’ll need to look in your local field guide to see which ones you may have in your region. Most paintbrushes bloom between May and September, often in large clusters with other flowers. They are easily identified by the brightly colored spike at the top of the stem, looking much like the end of a paintbrush.

Take a look at this page for paintbrush information: USDA Paintbrush.
Use this link to paintbrush found in the eastern United States: Castilleja coccinea. Here’s a link to paintbrush in the western region: Castilleja miniata.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Indian Paintbrush

If you have a membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you’ll find the complete challenge with images, more links to resources and videos, journaling ideas, a notebook page, and ideas for studying flowers in the figwort family. You’ll need to sign into your Ultimate or Journey level membership to see the book download. See the sample below to see what is included in each Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower 3 Covermaker

Ebook includes nature study lessons for common silverweed, fireweed, salsify, Indian paintbrush, and forget-me-nots.

Here’s a sample from the Wildflower ebook: Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Ebook #3.

To purchase an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, click on over to the Join Us page at any time.

Brand New! Outdoor Hour Challenge: Forget-Me-Nots Wildflower Nature Study

June 25, 2021 By Barb McCoy Leave a Comment

Brand New! Outdoor Hour Challenge

Forget-Me-Nots Wildflower Nature Study

We’ve reached the end of the third wildflower series of Outdoor Hour Challenges here on the Handbook of Nature Study. I sure have enjoyed taking a few minutes each week to learn about these common wildflowers. Next week, we start the herb series of challenges with the study of cilantro!

But this week, take a few minutes to read about and view some images of forget-me-nots in preparation for a wildflower study of a sweet little flower many of you have in your local area. Our yard has quite a few small patches of these blue beauties. It took me a few years to realize that these were actually forget-me-nots!

Outdoor Hour Challenge forget me nots

Where should you look?

Look up the range map on USDA: Forget-Me-Not Range and also the Woodland Forget-Me-Not range. Check to see if you have forget-me-nots in your local area.
Look for forget-me-nots in meadows, stream banks, and shrub-steppe habitats with aspens. Normal blooming time is from May to August.

Remember that the complete challenge with videos, printables, and careful observation suggestions is available to Ultimate and Journey level members here on the Handbook of Nature Study. You will need to sign into your Ultimate or Journey level membership to see the book download.

Ebook includes nature study lessons for common silverweed, fireweed, salsify, Indian paintbrush, and forget-me-nots.

Here’s a sample from the Wildflower ebook: Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Ebook #3.

To purchase an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, click on over to the Join Us page at any time.

Forbs and Pocket Gophers

June 23, 2021 By Barb McCoy Leave a Comment

Forbs and Pocket Gophers

I love it when I’m researching and learning about one topic and it leads me to another interesting topic. This often happens with nature study when an answer to a question just makes you curious about something else.

I’ve been reading about pocket gophers because we have many that live and are active in the habitat behind our house here in Central Oregon. Their holes are everywhere! (If you’re interested in learning about pocket gophers, there’s an Outdoor Hour Challenge in the High Desert ebook that will help you get started.) We’ve been wondering just what they eat and it turns out their diet includes “forbs”.

I had no idea what a “forb” was, so we decided to research the term.

Forb:

“A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.”

-From Wikipedia

Basically, most wildflowers are forbs. Grass is not a forb.

A pocket gopher’s diet consists mainly of forbs, eaten from the roots and pulled down into their tunnels. Most pocket gophers do not venture too far from their tunnel entrances to look for vegetation to eat.

So my dear readers, follow those “rabbit trails” when you are researching a topic. You never know what gem you will discover. I learned a new term to use in my nature study.