The first study in the
Spring Nature Study from
Harmony Arts Mom is
Spring Tree Observations. We decided to keep studying the maple tree, since it is really going through some fascinating changes right now, and it is the dominant tree species in our yard. In just a few short days the tiny red buds have begun to open, the maple's own fireworks display! It seems perhaps that the tiny red 'seeds' we saw when we dissected the bud were actually the covering of the flower calyx, and that they drop off as the flower opens. Our trees leaves have not developed yet, so we did a bark rubbing instead.
The view up into the canopy of our maple:
Not only are they fun to climb, maples are especially good for hanging up a rope swing!
It was too cloudy to measure the height of our tree today, and it looks like we're in for a rainy, cloudy week, so we'll probably revisit the notebooking page sometime next week and complete the rest of the information on it then.
Under the canopy of this maple grow the sweet little
Spring Beauty flowers, some of the first wildflowers we see in our northern NY yard. If you look closely perhaps you can see the mottled leaves of the
Dogtooth Violet, which will bloom a little later in the same spot.
The
Tamarack out by the chicken house is just beginning to put out needles.
