Asters

Ok so again I've failed at continually updating but not entirely I guess. Things are winding down here. Nine (9) days left to go. Seems crazy! But hey thats how it goes. I will miss some of the people here for sure. Last night 5 of us went out together for some laughs and thats what we had. I've never seen some of them so happy as last night and it reminded me that life isn't always so bad and that things can be lots of fun with the right people, the right time, and the right attitude.

Work is winding down significantly - need to identify the later summer things but few of them are flowering yet. However, things are definitely showing that it's late summer. Spirea alba is in flower as is Swamp Rose and life around is showing that change is coming. Glimpses of the late summer are here pointing to the impending glory of asters, goldenrods, and the fall.

Plants that are still figuring themselves out - evolving before our eyes... changing... genetically we have no idea what separates one from another and really only time can tell. Sort of like college graduates emerging from their little shells like butterflies from a crysalis. We are starting on a path but the exact path is as blurry as the asters genetics. We are all flowers that are going to bloom, you might not have a name for what we are - we might not even know that yet actually - but with luck we'll be successful, fruitful, and fit to continue.

However, unlike flowers, if we fail - we'll have something, someone to fall back on; friends, family, and oppertunities to try again.

Expedition to the Bog

Yesterday we went to one of my favorite places to visit - a bog. While June is really lack of excitement in a bog it was still fun (May and July are the best times to visit).

Just call me "sedge girl" or "bog girl" (woman once I get my phd)

Of course we found lots of orchids: white fringed (not in flower), grass pink, rose pogonia... sedges, including a new rhynchospora for the collection, and of course: leatherleaf!

Grass pink: common bog orchid

Bogs are really exciting places. Perhaps the most excitement for the day though came as a surprise. Unfortunately Ken had an allergic reaction so in the morning I took care of the class and even gave a lecture. It was kind of nuts but it went OK. Usually when lecturing I've had weeks to prepare - however, this was more of a "real" last minute experience. Literally we went over it in 3 minutes and then the class came in and he left for the ER.

Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperacea, and Poaceae were the 4 families I covered - talk about a challenge!

Carex sp.

These four families have some real crazy stuff going on, neat pollenation mechanisms, evolutionary twists, etc. They are huge, diverse, difficult to key out families. None-the-less they are fun, entertaining, and interesting. Difficult to teach about - I don't think I'll ever forget the looks on the faces in the class when I tried to explain glumes, lemmas, paleas, spikelets, florets, etc. Perhaps the only thing more memorable than the looks on their faces was Ken's "I know exactly what you mean" chuckle and grin when I questioned him later if he always gets that look.

Botanizing

I remember why I like this time of the year so much! The flowers are amazing!
And as great as bird photos are...
Nothing beats taking pictures of flowers and fiddling around with them and with editing them.

As much as birds have become a passion, botany is still my love. Flowers and trees and sedges and grasses are just too much fun!

I've seen all of these flowers within the last week laying in strategic places photosynthesizing their little leaves as best as they can while they bring us a fantastic sight and reward pollinators with sweets that could only match the delicious wonders of life like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies.

These are attractive droplets of a negatively impressive reward.

Plants never cease to amaze me. They have so many little things unique about them that make me jealous. I mean - I wish I could make my own food just by chilling in the sunlight! I wish I could trap insects with little goo-drops, or with jaws of death contraptions. I wish I could propagate in many formats... ok maybe that's a streatch.

Regardless, plants are amazing. And its times like today roaming around outside that I'm reminded of how amazing they really are.