It doesn't look like a day for going outside with all that wind blowing but hopefully the weather will improve for the weekend. Did you know that it's not only bees that pollinate but that the wind does too?
One of our native trees is called the ash and the ash flowers are pollinated by the wind moving the pollen around. The ash tree is one of the last trees to get leaves in May but the flowers appear before that. This means that the leaves do not get in the way of the pollen.
The seeds of the ash trees are known as keys and an ash tree can support 41 species of insect. Legend has it that Saint Patrick used a stick made from ash to drive the snakes out of Ireland and the wood from the ash tree is used to make hurley sticks.
I wonder do you know what this little wildflower is?
It is called a self heal and can be found in lawns and grassy areas. It is a small purple plant and if you look at it through a magnifying glass it is like a jewel. The name self heal tells you that it was used as a medicine long ago. People collected it to heal wounds.
See if you can draw it in your nature notebook. Have a good weekend!
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