The mountains are alive with a profusion of wildflowers most of the year. I have read that there are well over 3,000 varieties found in the southern Appalachians. Every week we come up here there is something new and different blooming. Wanting to learn the names of each, I started a new project.
Mike made me a flower press out of plywood scraps, with nuts and bolts on the corners to create “press”.
I layered cardboard scraps with unprinted newsprint paper (it’s absorbent and cheap in the children’s art section at Staples).
I made a “field press” out of cardboard and heavy rubberbands, small and light enough to fit in my ruck sack.

Then armed with the field press, a notebook to jot down descriptions, locations and sketches, an assortment of wildflower field guides, and my camera……..

I am off to loose myself in the blissful solitude of this new hobby. In the early spring, I don’t have to go far to find an abundance of colorful blooms carpeting the cabin clearing and sprouting on the path to the creek. Just to name a few, there are some of my photos…….

Common Blue Violet

Halberdleaf Violet

Canadian White Violet

Solomon's Seal

Catesby's Trillium ranging in various shades of white and pink
I am mounting the dried specimens along with their photos, labels and descriptions in an ever-growing album.