This is a zoomed in photo of the flowers of a common garden herb. Can you guess what it is? * I've grown it for years but never noticed how pretty the flowers and seedheads are until now.
This is a Luna moth (Actius luna), also known as the American moon moth. One morning last week it was perched above the front entrance of our school. I mentioned it to the principal and a couple of teachers, but no one else seemed too impressed. That's okay, because when my little crew of four friends made their morning stop by the office to say hi, I took them out to see it and they were.
A couple of extra kids tagged along, about six in all, and they ooh'ed and ahh'ed over its beauty. Then I dropped a fun fact about Luna moths: the adult moth doesn't have a mouth or a digestive system! It lives its adult life entirely on the energy it stored as a caterpillar. Of course, its adult life is only about a week, but still. The kids all loved it. When I sent them on to class, most of them hugged me, and sweet Emogene said, "Thank you for teaching us something cool!" That made my day.
*Flat Leaf Parsley
I enjoyed hearing this sweet story of you teaching students (and me!) about the Luna moth. How lucky they are to have you at their school!
ReplyDeleteI was going to guess that it was dill. It is wonderful to teach kids something and they appreciate it! Great photos.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful story about the children's reaction to the Luna Moth. So different than the adults'.
ReplyDeleteJennifer thanks for teaching us adults something cool too! I love your photos here, definitely quality over quantity.
ReplyDeleteI did think of parsley, but didn't know it was the flat leaf variety :-) Dill was my second guess.
ReplyDeleteLovely story about the moon moth! I think Kay (Georgia Girl with an English Heart) wrote about this particular species some time in the past, or was it an earlier post of yours? Anyway, I knew about the "foodless" adult life and find the thought both sad and scary.
It’s wrong but it looks like elderflower
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