Monday, June 23, 2014

Heading South

photo above - Blue Star Memorial plaque, Oregon.
 
It's time to head South and make our way toward California.  As we drove through the state of Washington, I kept noticing wonderful sunny, yellow wildflowers that remind me of California's yellow Scotch Broom . . . only the ones in Washington are gigantic.

Unfortunately when my hubby is driving he drives with a mission in mind; "Get where we're going without delay"  so I missed many an opportunity to photo these impressive wild flowers.

Somewhere in the state of Oregon, John pulls into a rest stop where I manage to retrieve my little camera and snap a few photos. 

Photo above - Emblem of USA flag at the base of "The Blue Star Memorial Highway" plaque.  Flag is made using red, white and blue stone chips and wood.  Looks like it could use a bit of straightening up but I'm sure that both the weather and the tourist are hard on it.
 
photo above - Wildflowers at Oregon rest stop.
 
I'm lucky at this particular rest stop as there is an area lush with yellow Scotch Broom and beautiful Queen Anne's Lace.
 
 
Back in my high school days, one of my assigned science projects was to collect wildflower specimens, and press and dry them.  After they were adequately preserved, I had to take the pressings and make them into a notebook.  It took weeks of work, first to collect the many samples of flowers, along with their stems and some leaves, and then the time consuming process of pressing them between sheets of paper and under a fair amount of weight, and allow them to remain untouched until thoroughly dry.  Since a flower press was not among my possessions, I had to round up all the biggest, heaviest, books available in our home.  Thankfully we did own a set of Encyclopedia Britannica and they really carried their weight  during this school assignment.   [pun intended] :)
 
I gained a lot from that science project, it taught me the names of many of my area's wildflowers and I learned a bit about each plant.  For instance I learned that the stems and branches of these yellow flowered Scotch brooms  were indeed once used to make brooms for sweeping.
 
Photo above - Close up of the Scotch Broom flower cluster.  It is considered a noxious weed but what a pretty weed it can be when blooming.
 
Photo below - I have never before seen such a large and beautiful Queen Anne's Lace blossom.  It was huge, about the size of a dinner plate and absolutely perfect.
 
When I see all the divine flowers that are grown up in the Northern states it makes me envious.  Deep in South Florida our soil is sandy and lacking in rich compost, the humidity is high and encourages mold and mildew on plants and our southern heat discourages many plants from establishing themselves.  As for bugs, they are pleantiful and ravenous for anything with a tender green leaf or stem.
 




13 comments:

  1. Those two flowers (Queen Anne's and Brooms) are basically weeds out here. They're just EVERYWHERE! :) I think half my lawn are those flowers. That is a big QAL though!

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  2. OMG I haaaaated the scotch broom in WA. Of course I'm not a huge fan of yellow flowers anyway but yeah, what a noxious weed.

    I was sitting here going, 'Blue Star memorial highway? Don't we have one of those here?' So I googled it and yes, it's the highway right near my house, I-495 and state route 25 on the other side of the Bourne Bridge. Had no idea they were all over the USA.

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    1. JoJo, The Blue Star Memorial Highway plaques are all over. They seem to all be memorial plaques and most appear to be maintained by local garden societies.

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  3. Weeds they are, but since I adore flowers to me they are beautiful and if they were in my garden I'd be picking them everyday and creating lovely bouquets. :)

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  4. Nice photographs. It is amazing what can be found at random rest stops. I agree they do make for great photographs. Thanks for sharing yours.

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  5. I love that you got the pictures! My husband is the same with driving... can't lose time. The thought of asking him to stop for pictures does make me laugh though. ;) I like your flower photos. :)

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  6. Weeds or not, the flowers are sooo pretty! The flag is cool looking and made for a fun photo. Michael doesn't mind stopping so I can take pictures, but he doesn't like me taking a long time doing it!!

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  7. Fun flag and flowers! I wish I would have had interesting high school projects like that ... I'm just now starting to learn the names of certain plants.

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  8. Wildflowers are so beautiful! I love seeing them in the road sides :)
    We had a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas too! Bet those don't even exist anymore with the Internet now...lol!

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  9. wow summer! those are wonderful flowers! have a great time there! hope you visit my blog again :)


    keep in touch!
    xx
    ellie
    http://chasingculprit.blogspot.com/

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  10. Oh Anna, your Hubby sounds just like mine, tunnel vision when it comes to trips, that is why I go on road trips with other people, lol :)

    I have to admit he is getting better the older he gets or I would have to leave him at home all the time, lol :)

    Those flower photos are awesome. I LOVE Queen Anne's lace and I LOVE taking photos of it :)

    It is a shame that kids are not taught about local plants as a regular thing in school anymore, mine took elective to learn some Botany which was good that they at least know some basics :)

    Have a wonderful evening, cheers,T. :)

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  11. Gorgeous pictures!! You were close to my neck of the woods! :-)

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  12. Fun to see your travels in my home state. I'm from the coast of Oregon, and miss all those wild flowers. While we do get them here ... they are all different!

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