A Second Look Follow up--Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne's Lace--Spot or No Spot
What's your experience?

My comments about the black spot in the middle of  a Queen Anne's lace bloom in a Second Look, 7-27-11, created several interesting conversations. I was surprised with the black spot because I had never seen one before and a friend said that all flowers she had seen were spotted.

I started wondering about this difference, so I began a very informal investigation. First, I asked several people what they thought a Queen Anne's lace flower looked like. Two people had seen some blooms with a dark spot in the middle and some without it. Four people had never seen the black spot. No conclusions from this survey except that I wasn't alone in my experiences.

Next, I carefully examined all of the Queen Anne's lace growing in my yard and found 29 plants that were spot free and 11 that had the dark spot in the middle. No conclusions once again except that the sample set of my yard was conducive to giving me the impression that Queen Anne's lace blooms are spot free.

After this, I did some internet research. Here I found that most places describe the flower as having a dark spot in the middle. Some say that they can sometimes be spot free. However, there was never any reason given for this difference except on a Virginia Tech weed identification site. Here they said that the spot occurs in the second year of maturity (they are biennials). Makes sense except I wonder why none of the other places mention this.

Anyway, my next step will be to wait until next year to see if any of my spotless flowers this summer will develop blooms with dark spots in the middle next summer. I'll let you know.

A Second Look--July 27, 2011

We were on vacation last week, so the yard didn't get its usual inspection. It has not fared well in 90-100 degree weather we have been having with little rain. Large (1/2"-1") dry cracks are forming in the ground and most plants are brown and drooping. The deer have discovered the hostas and tomatoes by our patio. Even with all of that being said, there are a few hearty flowers that are managing to provide some color.

Note: There are two pictures of Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot). The first is a lacy white bloom and the second is similar with a dark spot in the middle of the bloom. This is the first time that I have noticed a dark spot and at first thought it was a bug--but it is part of the blossom. The legend has it that the flower was named after Queen Anne and the dark spot represents blood from a needle prick that happened while the Queen was making lace.

See what I found on a Second Look around the yard this week.

Day lily

I hope the deer enjoyed their hosta feast.

Black-eyed Susan

Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot)

Queen Anne's lace with dark red bloom in middle

Downed branch from tulip poplar tree

Spike gay feather

Dry, cracking dirt

Dark Clouds, but No Rain

You may ask, where have I been and what have I been up to. You may ask, but most likely not. In your busy lives, I probably don't make it to the top of your list of things to think about. But that's okay. Because in my busy life, I don't always think about blogs either. However, I do try to keep up with all of you out there best I can even if I don't comment.

But just in case you have asked, where have I been and what have I been up to in the last couple of weeks, I'll try to give you some highlights.

After several tests, I decided to go with a one time treatment for my trigeminal neuralgia. It may take several months before I will know if it helps, but in the meantime, I think it's in the stage of it might get worse before it gets better. But having made the decision to go ahead with this treatment is definitely better than the indecision I had before.

We had some dark clouds while camping,
but luckily it didn't rain.

Also, last weekend I went with Ward's family to a big festival that is really hard to describe succinctly, so I'll just say that we were camping with 2000 people who were all having a good time--especially Ward's father who has been going for over 60 years without missing one. He spent a lot of time talking to friends old and new. His family, also, played a lot of music--both as a family and with pickup bands. Bluegrass is their favorite, but they are open to other things, also.

And to make sure that this blog continues to be about not anything significant, here are a few pictures of a recent outing we went on. I have mentioned before, that we keep a folder with info of local places we want to visit. Then when we have a day that we're tired of the grind and want to get out of the house, we look in our folder. This time we visited a nature center that we had passed by before. We had a good hike and saw some interesting exhibits.

Around the nature center building, they had natural, pollinator gardens. Among the plants were these Queen Anne's Lace. Notice the black spot in the middle. 

On the other side of the walk, there was a group of Queen Anne's lace
without the black spot in the middle.

A few years ago was the first time I noticed a Queen Anne's lace with a black spot in the middle. My friend said that was the only kind she had ever seen. That started me on path to learn more about the difference that I shared here on my blog.

This was our second stop that day. However, we got there too late to spend much time
so it went back into our folder for another outing.

Until next time, have fun.

Queen Anne's Lace Followup--A Year Later

or Not What Was Expected

Last year during one of my second looks, I was very excited because I found a Queen Anne's Lace with a black dot in the middle. It was the first one I had seen, and I learned that legend said that the dot represented a drop of Queen Anne's blood from a prick she got while making lace. I thought I had found something interesting and unusual, but for my friend, it was old hat. She said that all of the flowers she had seen had black dots. She didn't know that they came any other way.

The difference in our experiences made me curious, so I did an informal research project . There was no clear conclusion for the different blooms except from a Virginia Tech weed identification site. It said that during the second year of blooming (they are biennials),  the flower develops the spot. To test this, last year I counted the dotted and non-dotted flowers in my yard, and this year I counted them again.

What did I find? Last year I found 11 flowers with spots and 29 without. This year I found 5 with spots and 24 without. This is not what was expected. It was the exact opposite. I should have seen more black spots this year if they do indeed develop them during their second year of blooming.
 
I have a sense that there are certain varieties that have the spots and certain varieties that don't. It seems that the places where I saw the flowers with the spots this year are the same locations they were last year. But I'm not sure.That's a followup I'll have to do-after I get done with my egg cooking experiments.

The proportions here should have been reversed if the black dot appears during the second year of blooming.

Ornament Parade - Handmade by Grownups

Over the next few days, I will be rerunning posts where I featured ornaments from our Christmas tree. Like many of you, each ornament brings a special memory with it. These are good memories for me, but they can also bring a tear or two as I think about people from my past who are no longer with me. But with no further ado, here is the fourth set.

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Today, I'm showing you some of our ornaments made for us by family and friends. If you're into crafting, you may find an idea or two you want to try.

This is a dried orange slice that I made. I made another set I gave away with red beads glued in the middle.

This wreath was made from buttons from my grandmother's and mother's button cans. One afternoon, I sat down with my sisters, and we all made ornaments of various kinds from the buttons. We had fun reminiscing about the clothes the buttons had been taken from.

This powder puff lamb was made by a friend. Notice the clove sticks for legs.

This mailbox was made by my aunt. It has two letters and a package inside - very fun detail.

This angel, made by a friend, is crafted from two doilies.

Another friend knit the cover to this ball. I've been meaning to try this myself, but it remains on my To Do list at this point.

This painted ornament was made by the same local artist mentioned in another post. It was a coincidence, but the picture of the house looks just like my grandparents' house where my father grew up. That makes it extra special for me.

This was made by my best friend in grad school. School took up every waking minute at that point in time, so I don't know how she had time to make it, but she did. That made me appreciate it even more.

My aunt made this Queen Anne's Lace flower ornament. It is a pressed flower encased in epoxy. 

She also made this Christmas stocking.

Christmas is tomorrow, but I will be continuing with my ornament parade next week.

Until next time...

Christmas Ornaments

Every year when we decorate our Christmas tree, I get nostalgic as I remember where each ornament came from. Sometimes Ward and the boys are interested in the stories and sometimes they suddenly need to do something else when I start going down memory lane.

Below are a few of the ornaments that we have collected over the years. Their stories range from family heritage, handiwork of Wally and Theodore, gifts from friends, and the first Christmas that Ward and I spent together. If you want to know any of the stories, just ask. I love to tell them. However, if you suddenly need to do something else like Ward and the boys, I'll understand.

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On another topic, did anyone notice that the Queen Anne's Lace ornament didn't have a black spot in the middle?

A Second Look--September 14, 2016

Things are still moving here at a pace that is too fast for my liking, so I didn't get a chance to take photos for a Second Look this week. Here's what this week looked like a year ago. I've made comments under the photos to compare them to this year.

Here are a few things I saw last year

during a Second Look.

Sedum--Autumn Joy  
This year, they are about a week behind in blooming. They have just started.

Bumblebee on purple sage.  
The sage is in it's second set of growth for the season and it's still a favorite with the bees.

Marigold
The ever-faithful marigold is doing well. All of this years plants came from these plants from last year.

Queen Anne's Lace
I haven't seen any of this blooming recently.

The name of this plant escapes me at the moment. It comes back every year like a weed. Sometimes I let it grow and sometimes I don't. This year I left it alone and it's making a nice show in one of my beds.

Skipper Butterfly on purple sage (view from below)
The little butterflies are still around. I spent Sunday with my buddy, Sarah, and we spent most our time watching butterflies and bees on flowers at the church.

Blanket flower
I don't have many of these this year and they have the most blooms on them now of all season. They always brighten up wherever they are.

Celosia
This is an annual that I didn't grow this year. I planted zinnias instead.

Begonia
I have a different kind of begonia this year. They are doing quite well especially since I got them on clearance. You never know when you get plants like that.

A Second Look--December 24, 2014

It's Christmas Eve, so a Second Look today was done from some of my Christmas decorations. Below you see a few ornaments on my tree that have a nature theme. 

Also, may these holidays be a safe, calm, and good time for you and your families whatever big or small celebrations or quiet time alone you have planned. I will be spending the next two weeks traveling, visiting, and hosting various holiday activities. I may or may not be checking in here before the new year. 

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Note: I'm having a problem with Blogger this morning and there is a BIG space between the first and second pictures. Keep scrolling to see them all.

 

Queen Anne's Lace bloom pressed in epoxy

 

Turtles made from sea shells

This apple really is low hanging fruit. We hang several of these on the lowest branches of the tree for the cats to play with. You can see this one has a split in it from being played with.

This sheep was made by a friend with powder puffs and cinnamon sticks.