By Margaritte Arthrell-Knezek Head of School
Each morning our UTCS office staff start off the day with a morning walk. Its our time to come together and prepare our brains for the day of work ahead, creating the vibrant learning community that is Under the Canopy School! As we walk we practice a version of sit spot. Sit spot, as Amber mentioned in her last post, is an opportunity to be still and notice what is happening in the natural world in our local environment. Its a time to wonder about all the natural delights that surround us daily, yet we hardly ever pay attention too.
As we walk in the urban neighborhood by our office, we have observed the yards where the most activity is happening. This corresponds to how many wild plants and shrubs inhabit the persons yard. One corner is particularity fun to observe because it has a large, wild, sunflower patch. Each morning we gaze at the sunflowers and have found a microcosmos of adventure within this small garden habitat.
Its starts with the pollinators. According to Tulsa Masters Gardeners, OK is home to 4,000 different species of native bees! From the neon green sweat bee, to the tiny yellow bee and the large buzzing bumble bee we have seen so many in our 3 months of observing. Native bees love sunflowers!
We then observe the predators. Sunflowers house many small insect species including aphids and spittle bugs, a perfect snack for grasshoppers, shield bugs and more. Perched loftily atop a dried up disk flower sits a large brown preying mantis, ready to dine on unsuspecting smaller insects including caterpillars.
One day we witnessed caterpillars munching on nearby mulberry leaves. There red and yellow spikey/furry bodies were very active and fun to observe. Within two days they had munched up most of the leaves and were gone. Was it a predator attack or time to cocoon? We have been searching for their chrysalis ever sense.
Then there are the sunflowers themselves. Watching the small, perfect Fibonacci spiral of the just opened bud. Then seeing the graceful unfolding of the sun ray petals, one side at a time depending on who gets touched by the sun first. Then the brown, flakey center disk flower that comes after the flower has shed its petals that reminds me of a fairies hair brush. Each stage has been fascinating to slowly witness.
We walk, in the bright, hot sun, in the cool blustery wind and even in the pelting rain as long as there is no lightening. Our office holds to the adage that there is no bad weather just poor clothing choices. Seeing the different visitors to the sunflowers based off what the weather is showing us adds another level of intention to our project.
Someday soon there will be a hard freeze and no more sunflowers as the earth prepares for winter dormancy. I am sure we will find new things to look at as the canopy opens and the birds that don't migrate are easier to spot. I will also be patiently waiting for the beginning buds of new sunflowers and perhaps a moth or butterfly freshly hatched from a chrysalis attached to a stick or leaf nearby.
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