On this day, we ventured out into the backyard to soak up some sunshine and spot some winter weeds and seeds. We went to the known spots. First, the althea bush.
Back on a recent snow day, we had noticed some seeds. This bush produces beautiful purple blossoms in summer. We’ve entered a blossom in our state fair several years in a row and won ribbons each time. (The althea bush started from a cutting from my grandmother, Mama Ann’s, house.)
But, we’d never taken the time to look closely at the althea and its seeds in winter before. Guess what? We thought the seeds were just about as beautiful as the summer blossoms. They almost look heart-shaped and have little tufts to carry them on the wind or on the back of a bird or animal.
Next we searched out morning glory vine. Shriveled near the water hose and little balloons of seed pods. Pop them open and those seeds are tiny! This vine loves to climb the bird feeder. Little purple or deep blue blossoms greet us, sparkling with the summer, morning dew. Saying, “good morning, glory!”
Then it was time for a simple tromp through the woods for collecting. Mimosa pods were everywhere of course! Eldest boy picked up a pine cone, declaring it a seed as well. Yes, we’d learned before where to find the tiny seeds of the pine cone.
I love how these winter studies all flow into each other. Evergreen pine cone, seeds, weeds.
Then… this always seems to happen when I go back inside. The children make a discovery on their own! Love it when that happens.
I noticed them all around one spot. “What did you find?” I ask.
A woolly bear caterpillar. He apparently came out of his winter hibernation. He was a bit shy of all the attention and curled up into a ball. You can’t see it but he has a nice red band of those spiky, porcupine-looking things around his middle.
So, since we remembered back to our caterpillar and butterfly studies of last year, we decided to house this little guy.
We found the caterpillar habitat and researched the caterpillar’s care. More on this in our next study of winter insects!
Inside, we took a closer look at those seeds and sketched.
(It always helps to have your favorite stuffed animals close by 
So glad we took a few minutes outside to really notice. A beautiful winter day with hints of spring!
About Hodgepodgemom
Beautiful weed study!!
Excellent study of weeds/seeds in the winter. I agree that really taking the time to look at the seeds gives you a whole new respect for the design of life. Bonus caterpillar too!
I would love to use the photo of the kids and the caterpillar as the OHC Photo of the Week. Could you please send it to me so I can add it to the sidebar? (I can’t grab your photo.)
Thanks so much for sharing your study and the link with the OHC.
What a great study. We just found a few caterpillars for our insect study too!