Leaves and Seeds
It's getting to be autumn here in the midwest. Seeing the leaves begin to turn and the seedpods hanging from vines makes me think of the many plants that we enjoyed playing with when we were children.
Perhaps the most fun were milkweed pods. In the spring and summer these are green pods. If you break or squeeze them, white liquid comes out. It isn't really milk, and you can't drink it (you would get sick), but it looks like milk. Then later in the summer, the pods dry out and are filled with seeds and soft, furry fuzz. If you open them up and blow, the seeds with their fuzz blow away to plant new milkweeds for the next spring. If you don't do it, the wind will blow them away.
Another interesting plant is sedum. We didn't know what it was called, but we loved playing with it. The leaves are very thick and smooth. If you break one off and carefully squeeze it all over--without breaking through anywhere--you can blow it up like a balloon!!! It isn't easy and often the leaves break, but when you blow one up and it pops, it is really satisfying.
Catalpa trees have a seed pod that is long and green. We used to call catalpas "lady cigar trees". I don't think we ever actually tried to smoke one, since we weren't allowed to play with matches, but we would pretend to smoke them.
Acorns are also fun to play with. They are poisonous, so you mustn't ever put them in your mouth. We would try to find as many as we could. The little caps come off the end to make cups for fairies or dolls. Or you can plant one (like squirrels do) so a new oak tree will grow. My mother told us a saying "Great oaks from little acorns grow". That means that a little child can grow up to be an important inventor or scientist or writer or teacher or anything else. But it also means that a big oak tree can grow in your back yard just from an acorn. We had one in our yard when I was little that my father transplanted after it sprouted. We have one in our yard now, that started out just an acorn about 15 years ago, and has turned into a big tree.
We also enjoyed gathering the seeds from hollyhocks and trying to plant them the next spring. They come in little round seedpods, neatly arranged in a circle. I don't think we ever succeeded in getting one to grow, but it was fun to take them out of the pods. Great-Grandpa Clarence wouldn't like it if we planted them on his farm in Kansas, but it's ok to plant them in the city.
And of course, in the fall, one of the most fun things to do is to rake up a pile of leaves and jump into it. When we were little, we would help rake, and jump, and then Daddy would burn the leaves. Now we aren't allowed to burn leaves in the city--it makes too much smoke and is too dangerous--but we still rake up big piles of leaves and it is still fun to jump in them.
Here is a picture of Miriam in the leaves when she was 2 years old.
Perhaps the most fun were milkweed pods. In the spring and summer these are green pods. If you break or squeeze them, white liquid comes out. It isn't really milk, and you can't drink it (you would get sick), but it looks like milk. Then later in the summer, the pods dry out and are filled with seeds and soft, furry fuzz. If you open them up and blow, the seeds with their fuzz blow away to plant new milkweeds for the next spring. If you don't do it, the wind will blow them away.
Another interesting plant is sedum. We didn't know what it was called, but we loved playing with it. The leaves are very thick and smooth. If you break one off and carefully squeeze it all over--without breaking through anywhere--you can blow it up like a balloon!!! It isn't easy and often the leaves break, but when you blow one up and it pops, it is really satisfying.Catalpa trees have a seed pod that is long and green. We used to call catalpas "lady cigar trees". I don't think we ever actually tried to smoke one, since we weren't allowed to play with matches, but we would pretend to smoke them.
Acorns are also fun to play with. They are poisonous, so you mustn't ever put them in your mouth. We would try to find as many as we could. The little caps come off the end to make cups for fairies or dolls. Or you can plant one (like squirrels do) so a new oak tree will grow. My mother told us a saying "Great oaks from little acorns grow". That means that a little child can grow up to be an important inventor or scientist or writer or teacher or anything else. But it also means that a big oak tree can grow in your back yard just from an acorn. We had one in our yard when I was little that my father transplanted after it sprouted. We have one in our yard now, that started out just an acorn about 15 years ago, and has turned into a big tree.
We also enjoyed gathering the seeds from hollyhocks and trying to plant them the next spring. They come in little round seedpods, neatly arranged in a circle. I don't think we ever succeeded in getting one to grow, but it was fun to take them out of the pods. Great-Grandpa Clarence wouldn't like it if we planted them on his farm in Kansas, but it's ok to plant them in the city.And of course, in the fall, one of the most fun things to do is to rake up a pile of leaves and jump into it. When we were little, we would help rake, and jump, and then Daddy would burn the leaves. Now we aren't allowed to burn leaves in the city--it makes too much smoke and is too dangerous--but we still rake up big piles of leaves and it is still fun to jump in them.
Here is a picture of Miriam in the leaves when she was 2 years old.
posted by Story Time at 3:06 PM
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