This week we're talking about Spring flowers

This Week We're Talking About Spring Flowers

The first thing I think of when I think of spring is all of the beautiful flowers! But don't worry, if beautiful flowers aren't for you there are also some fun experiments to try!

All of these flowers spend all winter deep inside the soil as Bulbs. Bulbs are plant food stores, the plant stores energy in the form of starch inside bulbs to allow it to survive winter when there is not much sunlight to make food. In the spring, bulbs first start to grow roots and then shoots which will eventually grow into a full flower!

These are some of my favorite spring flowers that you can look out for the next time you go for a walk. You'll probably recognise the first flower, they're daffodils. The bright yellow flowers of daffodils are great for attracting insect pollinators. Next, we have crocuses, these grow in large clumps of white and purple flowers close to the ground, my favorite spring flower is the Snake's Head Fritillary. The Snake's Head Fritillary is called this because it's scaly pattern and droopy flowers make it look like the head of a snake!   Finally, bluebells. Bluebells often grow in large groups in woodlands to see them you could even go to a beautiful bluebell wood like the one pictured below, to find a bluebell wood near you click here.

 

Dissecting Daffodils

You can cut open a flower to see all of its internal structures. Daffodils work well but you could also use tulips or lilies. I placed the stem of my flower in some clean water with a little blue food colouring the night before my experiment - wait and see what happened!

You will need:

• Safety scissors
• A chopping board or mat
• A flower
• A guide to the parts of a flower, you can find a printable one here or a photo guide here

Step 1

First, lay your flower onto the mat with the flower facing to one side. Carefully snip through the flower, try to cut it in half.

Step 2

Next, lay your two halves out on the mat and take a look inside. You could use a magnifying glass for an even closer look! Try to name the structures you see. 

Parts of a flower

The anthers are where pollen is stored, bees rub against these while feeding on nectar from the flower and get covered in pollen! The bee than takes this pollen to the next flower it visits - this is called pollination. The ovules at the bottom of the flower are what will become the daffodil's seeds, to make these into seeds, the dafodil also needs pollen from another plant which is brought to them by the bees!

Bonus!

Because I soaked my flower in blue coloured water the night before if I cut open the stem I can see little blue lines. These are xylem. Xylem carry water all the way from the bottom of the plant to the top - plants need to drink too!

Thank you for reading my blog! As always I would love to see any picture of the experiments you try at home, or any cool nature finds you have! You can send them to me on Facebook or Twitter and while you're there check out our exciting new prize giveaway!
I'll be back next week with more experiment ideas and nature crafts, until then my friends, have a great Spring!

Sarah 💚😀💚