Name This Flower Please........

Today was science again and while I like doing experiments with my daughters, I get a bit tired of all of them accumulating around the house. For example, this week we were concentrating on learning the term "osmosis". The potato slices in water vs. salt water was one thing as it was nice and clean looking. However, the raisins soaking for 48 hours in water to convey this idea got gross. By day two when our math instructor arrived, they were huge and floating in dark, murky looking water. So, today we hastily dumped them, reviewed the scientific method, wrote up these experiments in our lab books and moved along.

Although I use a science curriculum and follow along the order of topics, I do not always go along swimmingly from lesson to lesson. I often think of the wisdom of Ruth Beechick's quote, "Bend the book, not the child," and so I like to change gears upon our interests or just spice things up. We all had enough osmosis. So later in the day, it was my quick "Name that Flower" routine I like to spring on the girls. These flowers are our last left overs of the summer, our late bloomers here. I like them as they provide such nice green foliage all summer long and then surprise me just when I think all the flowers are finished blooming each year. Well, samples were quickly cut and put in a vase, field guides flew and within minutes it was determined the flowers were physostegia virginiana or better known as obedience flowers. I like that....obedience flowers, but the girls looked at me as if I played some sort of trick on them and was going to slide into some character lesson! We just sat out in the grass a while and enjoyed them watching the sunlight and shadow dance through the last of the garden. I think we got the name right, but are always open to corrections here.