Queen Anne's Lace #2

Queen Annes Lace
Queen Annes Lace, also called Wild Carrot, is a common plant in dry fields, ditches, and open areas. It was introduced from... more

by Carol Toepke

Title

Queen Anne's Lace #2

Artist

Carol Toepke

Medium

Photograph - Digital Image

Description

Queen Annes Lace
Queen Annes Lace, also called Wild Carrot, is a common plant in dry fields, ditches, and open areas. It was introduced from Europe, and the carrots that we eat today were once cultivated from this plant. Queen Annes Lace grows up to four feet tall. Its leaves are two to eight inches long and fern-like. This plant is best known for its flowers, which are tiny and white, blooming in lacy, flat-topped clusters. Each little flower has a dark, purplish center. The fruits of Queen Annes Lace are spiky, and they curl inward to build a birds nest shape. This plant blooms from May to October. It is a biennial plant, which means it lives for two years. It will spend the first year growing bigger, and then bloom the second year. Some call this flower a noxious weed. There are two stories of legend that surround the flower: The American legend says that Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), queen consort of King James I, was an expert lace-maker. The central flower of the carrot's umbel is reddish-purple. This odd flower was placed upon the umbel for the time Anne pricked her finger and a drop of blood stained the lace. According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the name Queen Annes lace did not appear in print until 1895, two hundred seventy-six years after Annes death. Another says: Queen Annes Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, an expert lace maker. English legend tells us that Queen Anne challenged the ladies of the court to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as lovely as the flower of this plant. No one could rival the queen's handiwork. She however, pricked her finger with a needle and a single drop of blood fell into the lace, that is said to be the dark purple floret in the center of the flower.

Appletons New Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin
Magnificent potential! Appleton's new Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin finally opened its doors to the public on July 13-14th, 2013. Two weeks after the grand opening we arrived to view beautifully landscaped and manicured grounds; a huge butterfly maze in center of 2 acres of praire flower field, with mowed pathways; a viewing tower; beautiful nature center and a huge butterfly house. We were greeted at the front door of the nature center by co-owner Jack Voight. Marty Voight also a co-owner personally greeted us at the front door of the butterfly house. Jack and Marty both assured us that the grounds were a work in progress and humbly invited us back to watch them grow with the gardens. 200 butterflies were released for the grand opening and although, through natural selection, only several still survived we thoroghly enjoyed ourselves viewing and capturing images of both the butterflies that remained and the prairie flowers you see here. Want to know more: http://www.butterflygardensofwisconsin.com

Uploaded

July 30th, 2013