Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Have You Ever Heard of a Thimble Berry?

These flowers are called Thimble Berries.  When they ripen, the petals brown and fall away, while the center becomes a succulent red berry.  It is shaped like a little cup and though there's hardly enough for a mouthful, these berries are the essence of sweetness.  

I should probably also add here, that Thimble Berry leaves are also known as "nature's toilet paper..."  

These lovely yellow flowers also grow wild near my parent's home.  At first I thought they were buttercups, but my sweet Sis Clytie did some research and discovered these are actually large leaved Avens.

These incredibly pink blossoms were all over the pine tree--I thought the color was magnificent.

This is a flag, or wild Iris.  When we were kids--we watched for these each spring.  There was something magical about their arrival in the Forest.

This is an iris whose rich colors caught me by surprise and filled my eyes to the very brim.

10 comments:

Lois said...

They are all so lovely Beth! Thank you for sharing them.

Sheri said...

how spectacular that the things you love so much as all so close by! i am fascinated by the beauty of nature, especially the things that grow wild, they truly are unexpected and bring such a smile to my heart! thanks for sharing your wonderful photos :)

Cheryl said...

I so enjoyed all the gorgeous photos, thank you for sharing!

Clytie said...

So very beautiful. I never noticed the pink on the pines before - now I'll have to go over and pay more attention!

Regina said...

How gorgeous!

Cedar ... said...

Ohhhh, that shot of the pine! Love it!

Looking to the Stars said...

This is so cool. I didn't know about the thimble berry. Love the pics. I felt the same way about the flags and a lot of people didn't know what I was talking about when I called iris' flags :)

Helen said...

Found your blog today ~ and glad I did! I live on the 'other side of the mountain' .. High Desert, Bend OR. Your photos are really lovely!

Serline said...

The beauty of nature never ceases to amaze...

Catherine said...

So there really is a plant called a Thimble Berry! I've heard of the fabric line by that name (no surprise there, LOL!) but had no idea they are real. They sound scrumptious! What a lovely wild iris, too!