Nature Photography by Lizabeth Allyn

Wildflower and Plant Links and Resources

Wildflowers, garden flowers, medicinal and herbal plants make up the bulk of subjects for our nature photography, from early woodland flowers to herbs that you can buy at your local market. Follow the links to see more beautiful flowers!

Wildflowers are as beautiful and varied as those you will find in any gift shop. One merely has to look by the roadside to see colorful accents to the rich earth tones of browns and greens.

Wildflowers in Bloom Photo Gallery is a collection of photos of many common wildflowers abundant in Texas and produced by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Clicking on a thumbnail photo will bring up information about each plant, a small picture of the seedling, and a distribution map for the U.S.

Here's a list of wildflower seed sources for those of you wanting to plant some native wildflowers.

Any discussion about wildflowers would not be complete without mentioning the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Dedicated to educating the public about the natural beauty, environmental necessity and economic value of native plants, the LBJ Wildflower Center is a botanical garden in Austin, Texas.

Ten regions of North America are highlighted on their National Events Calendar where you can search for happenings in the wildflower world.

Stop by and read a couple Native Plants Articles or pick up a membership to get the Native Plants Magazine.

If you would like to try your hand at planting some native flowers, then check out the regional factpacks for the recommended native plant species, native plant and seed sources, native plant landscapers, and native plant organizations in your region.

Did you know that a huge percentage of the medicines that we take to combat disease had their beginnings in some type of naturally occuring plant species? It makes sense that our pharmaceuticals of today would build on the knowledge of the medicine men of native peoples. For many generations people handed down the knowledge of the plants and animals in their realm that held special qualities. Even today, pharmaceutical companies are seeking the knowledge of natural medicines from lands afar.

Herbal plants are like medicinal plants in that they both can hold the promise of aiding some malady. Are these plants really a different group from the medicinals? It must come down to the specific knowledge we hold. Herbals are those that we use in cooking or in eastern medicine. Medicinals are those from which known therapeutic compounds are derived.

Flower Anatomy shows a basic drawing of a flower and its reproductive parts, like the female pistil and the male stamen and their parts. There's also a few links here to help your children learn about the different types of plants and their needs — from the Fullerton Arboretum, California State University. There are some fun teacher's lesson plans here to involve your students in learning about plant and flowers.

The California Native Plant Society has a great page on Flower Pollinators. Here you can learn about the sexual life of plants and how insects get in on the action! Drawings help to tell the story of pollination in a way that children can understand. While you are there, check out the photo gallery of wildflowers.