Picture of my Pasque Flowers

Today I had time to run out and take a picture of my pasque flowers. They are so pretty and delicate. I found some interesting info on the 'State Symbols USA' website. Here is an excerpt:

Pasque Flower

The pasque flower (or pasqueflower) was designated the official state flower of South Dakota in 1903. Also called the May Day flower, prairie crocus, wind flower, Easter flower and meadow anemone, the pasque is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring (often before the late winter snows have thawed).

Pasque is a tallgrass prairie flower and grows wild throughout South Dakota. The pasque flower is member of the buttercup family and is highly toxic (pasque flowers were used as a medicine by native Americans for centuries).

And...our 'other' state flower is starting to bloom now. We will see millions, maybe trillions of golden heads nodding soon and see their fluffy seed heads blowing in the wind. And we will have all the dandelion leaves we can consume! Dandelion wine, anyone?!

Hope your day is warm and sunny wherever you are!

Finally a Bloom Out There!

No wonder the pasque flower is the South Dakota state flower! It's the first sign of spring here after, usually, long and very cold winters. There are not too many left now in the wild as most of our ground is either inhabited or, more likely, planted in crops. They are a very pretty lavender with a thick, long center. I have not tried pressing these yet but plan to very soon. I shall leave some of the blooms to go to seed. There should be, I hear, a lovely seed pod that can be used in fall arrangements.
Enjoy!

Good morning! The snow is finally starting to melt up here and the sun is shining. Everyone I see has a big smile on their face today! Hurry spring...we are ready!
I finished a pressed flower picture that I would like to share with you all today. I did this one as an on line class project through the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild. Our instructor was Russian Oshibana (pressed plant material) artist, Irina O. One of Irina's most beautiful pieces was awarded a first place ribbon at the Philadelphia Flower Show that was held March 1 to March 8. She is a very accomplished artist and a wonderful instructor...we are very lucky to have her on our guild.
The picture we did was a winter scene. Since I live in South Dakota I decided to add a couple of pheasants to my picture...we are the 'Pheasant Capitol of the World', you know! And I changed the tree a bit to look more like what we have here. The technique for the sky was just intriguing! It is made of corn husk...the husk that is closest to the cob and is lighter, almost white in color. Then Irina taught us how to use onion skin for snow. The darkest parts of the tree are made with banana peel. If you are new to pressed flower/botanical art this may sound very strange to you as it sure did to us before trying it. Now all of us on the guild are looking suspiciously at all our fruits and veggies...nothing safe out there anymore!
Hope you like it. I learned volumes from Irina and can't wait for the next class!