Tiny Woodland Flowers

Needle Pointed Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium Mucronatum) - 
Contrary to its common name, it is not a grass, The low growing, narrow leaves do have a grass-like appearance, thus the common name. The dainty, deep blue to violet flowers open one at a time.  The star shaped blooms are under 3/4" across. At the tip of each rounded petal or sepal is a needle like tip, thus its common name of Needle-tip Blue-eyed grass. Flowers close in the late afternoon to evening and open again in the morning.  Its native habitat includes forests, woodlands, fields, meadows, and along ponds and streams.

Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron Diverens) - Is a flowering plant in the daisy and sunflower  family. It has small, attractive daisy like flowers with up to 150 ray flowers, giving the round flower head a frilly look. The plump yellow or greenish-yellow centers are made up of tiny disk flowers.
It is a plant of many habitats from desert to low-elevation mountains.

Creeping Buttercup - The common buttercup found in damp places on grassland, along woodland and field edges. Its long, rooting runners helping it to spread across lawns. This golden-cupped flower is a childhood favorite: if a yellow reflection appears when it is held up to the chin, it is considered as a sign
that the person likes butter.

Rose Trillium

Sometimes called the Nodding Trillium. The flowers nod beneath the petals with a hue of pastel pink or rose. Trilliums, as the name implies have everything in 3's-three leaves, three petals. It is one of the wildflowers whose seeds are distributed by ants. The Trilliums are now recognized as precious and special although they are not officially endangered. In many areas Trilliums are still very common. The Trillium is very slow growing, it takes decades to establish a healthy colony. If left undisturbed it will spread by creeping rootstocks to create a carpet of early spring flowers on the forest floor. It can also propagate by seed but this is even slower.

Wild Blackberry Bush

A wonderful time to be exploring outdoors! So much new growth! In our backyard we have a wild blackberry bush blooming. The blackberries have showy flowers that range in color from pink to white and occur singly or in clusters at the end of shoots.

 

 

Each flower is about 1 inch across with 5 petals. The fruits are red to black in color, edible, and tasty when ripe if you can get there before the birds and the deer! Beware the stems are thorny!

Mountain Laurel

Mountain laurel was first recorded growing in the wild in 1624 and can be found on rocky ridges and mountainous forest area.

This beautiful flowering plant can be deadly to humans and animals. Bark, flowers, seeds, leaves, roots, stems, and sap are all poisonous. Even the honey made from bees that forage exclusively on Mountain Laurel is toxic. It is called ‘Mad Honey’. Lovely to look at but beware...

Some plants can be poisonous if ingested.

Others can hurt you if you get them on your skin. For some plants, all parts of
the plant are poisonous.

 Important to educate yourself on plants and any
possible toxic properties.

One Page Wonder Mini Album

This is an interactive mini album. It's a One Page Wonder created from a 12 x 12 inch piece of black cardstock as its base. The papers used to decorate and create the little inserts for the pockets were from a Graphics45 collection. The finished size for the mini album is a 3 inch square. 

   Other paper collections used were from Stamperia and Ciao Bella.

A tutorial for this One Sheet Mini Album can be found on YouTube at Curio By B-Spoke Designs.

Another variation can be found at Einat Kessler's channel. She offers a free printable guide for cutting and folding instructions as well as a video tutorial on her channel.

These are fun to make! I couldn't stop!

Make little boxes for them and they make thoughtful little gifts!

Eastern Hemlock

The Eastern Hemlock fooled me. I waited for the little pine cones to mature expecting them to get larger. After researching I learned this is their mature size! They’re tiny! The tree has a loose,irregular, feathery silhouette, with fine, lacy twigs whose tips tend to droop gracefully. The needles are ½ inch in length and flat.

The tree is also known as Hemlock Spruce. The common name "hemlock" was reportedly given because the crushed foliage smells a little like that of the poisonous herb hemlock. The cones gradually grow to about about ¾ inch long and remain soft and flexible until the seeds are released in the fall. The drooping cones persist through winter.

Loblolly Pine Tree

The Loblolly Pine Tree is abundant here. I love the amazing look and feel of the bark.  It  is so texturally interesting. In the South, the name loblolly means a depression.  The tree was originally observed growing in river bottoms, and that is where it acquired its principal common name, but these trees are not limited to that specific habitat.

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

               The seed cones are ¾” to 1 ¼” broad when closed but open to 1 ¾” to 2 ½” wide. They remain on the trees for several seasons. It was once an important lumber tree due to its abundance.