Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] MOONFLOWER BLOOMED! and a mystery flower
Nora or Devereaux Cannon
The Naked Ladies./Surprise lilies/Resurrection Lilies always bloom within a
few days of our daughter's birthday. I have 9 years worth of pictures with
her at (or on) the sideboard in the dining room with a vase full of them.
Several years ago, after she had internalized that the blooms meant her
birthday was at hand, I mentioned to her that they bloomed a week after the
first writing spiders appeared. Serious birthday cake planning now begins
with the first writing spider. She observed and recorded a year or two
later that preying mantises appear 2 weeks after the resurrection lilies.
She appears to be correct, at least as far as the indicator of when I have a
mantis in a jar on the kitchen window. All of this depends on which day it
rains, but the general time line is dependable. I am less sure of her
dependability in sexing the things, but he assures me she can and will
manage to breed some this fall. Why not???
What is remarkable to me as an involved but non interfering observer is the
sheer number of these observations she has made - and made her own. When
she was 4 she could look at caterpillar poop and tell you whether the
caterpillar was ready to cocoon and metamorphose.
I love unschooling for a whole bunch of reasons and love my daughter for
many more, but the connections like naked lady lilies and a whole host of
"unteachable" learning skills rank pretty high in the why element of that
love for unschooling.
few days of our daughter's birthday. I have 9 years worth of pictures with
her at (or on) the sideboard in the dining room with a vase full of them.
Several years ago, after she had internalized that the blooms meant her
birthday was at hand, I mentioned to her that they bloomed a week after the
first writing spiders appeared. Serious birthday cake planning now begins
with the first writing spider. She observed and recorded a year or two
later that preying mantises appear 2 weeks after the resurrection lilies.
She appears to be correct, at least as far as the indicator of when I have a
mantis in a jar on the kitchen window. All of this depends on which day it
rains, but the general time line is dependable. I am less sure of her
dependability in sexing the things, but he assures me she can and will
manage to breed some this fall. Why not???
What is remarkable to me as an involved but non interfering observer is the
sheer number of these observations she has made - and made her own. When
she was 4 she could look at caterpillar poop and tell you whether the
caterpillar was ready to cocoon and metamorphose.
I love unschooling for a whole bunch of reasons and love my daughter for
many more, but the connections like naked lady lilies and a whole host of
"unteachable" learning skills rank pretty high in the why element of that
love for unschooling.
----- Original Message -----
From: <SandraDodd@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 9:06 AM
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] MOONFLOWER BLOOMED! and a mystery
flower
> That link said this:
>
> Lycoris radiata (Dwarf Surprise Lily)
> Sun to Light ShadeZone: 6-10, at least 15" tall Origin: China
> This Southern heirloom bulb is one of the most popular plants in old
> Southern
> gardens. The small, narrow strap-like blue-green leaves die away in early
> spring. Then seemingly out of nowhere in August, the 15" tall spikes
> emerge from
> underground, topped with a deciduous azalea-like flower of bright red.
> After
> the flowers fade, the leaves emerge again and persist until spring,
> producing
> food for next year's flowering. L. radiata doesn't always flower every
> year...we feel the flowering is probably controlled by aliens who like to
> torment
> Earth-bound gardeners.
>
> I LOVE that, because Holly said maybe the aliens sent it. <g>
> My neighbor, when I asked him, didn't know but said "Maybe those lights on
> the crest the other night caused it" (people reported strange lights one
> night;
> it was a mountaintop photo shoot with bright lighting at night, we heard)
>
> I'm definitely going to dig it up and move it to a safer place. Maybe it
> would have bloomed other years but Keith mows the lawn. The bulbs we
> planted
> there were planted seven or eight years ago, and after that we've moved
> every
> one we saw come up to better places.
>
> Sandra
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
> <http://www.unschooling.info>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>