Washington State Native Plant Society

My friend Patricia over at Classical Education our way posted her green hour challenge yesterday. In part of her post she had a few pictures of tree cones and asked if anyone knew what kind they were.

A few responded and let her know they were Douglas fir tree Cones This brought back a few memories...

It made me think back to my my 6th grade year...each year, at the end of the year, the entire 6th grade went up to Fort Flagler Washington to camp. The main point for going up was to reward our hard work all year, but also the teachers planned a 4 day weekend to teach us about the outdoors.

On one of our outings, we were learning how to identify trees and some of us were collecting different types of cones. One of the teachers told us a story about the Douglas fir cones and how they look the way they do. Seeing the cones on Patricia’s site brought that faded memory back.... it was sweet....

I wanted to share the story, but not sure I could remember it correctly....6th grade was a long time ago... ehhem...*Ü* anyway... here is the story.. Its called The Mouse, Douglas Fir, and the great forest fire. I’m only linking it, I don’t know if the story is copyrighted... and the site I found had a few cool pictures to boot.

The Mouse, Douglas Fir, and the great forest fire

If you are from Washington State and are a part of the Green Hour Challenge that Barb is hosting over at The Heart of Harmony these sites might be of great use for you.

Washington Native Plant Society

Washington State Nature Guide

Bird Web

Mammals of Washington

Reptiles of Washington

Amphibians of Washington

Fossils of Washingotn State

Plants of Washington State

Fish of Puget Sound

Geology of Washington State