You all are always such fun whenever I have a contest here on One Writer’s Journal. You jump right in and give whatever I suggest a try. Some of you knew your wildflowers and guessed right on my flower picture. It was a poppy. A celandine poppy or wood poppy, to be exact. But for those of you who called it a buttercup, I was right there with you on that for years. That was what we always called them and it’s a name that fits well.
Making Up Names
I’m glad some of you who didn’t know the name had fun with my suggestion to pretend you were the first person to discover the flower and thus were able to name it whatever you wanted. A couple of you came up with interesting names. Yellow or butter ruffles. Fluffypants. Not sure about that last one, but the petals do look fluffy.
Coming up with the absolute perfect name for a character in a book or story is one of the fun parts of writing for me. I get to name my main characters (the good ones and the bad ones) and dozens of minor characters in each book. I get to name where they live and the pets they have. I sometimes even name their vehicles. So why not name some wildflowers?
But the Real Name is…
A Guide to the Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky by Mary E. Whatron & Roger W. Barbour says. “The celandine poppy has yellow juice as well as yellow flowers. There are 4 petals…buds are covered with 2 hairy sepals and the fruit is bristly hairy. …The species, which grows 10-18 inches high, is widely distributed in the state and is frequent in rich mesophytic woods, especially on slopes where leaf mold is deep.”
From this new picture of the wood poppy this week, looks like it will grow in the middle of rocks too. But I do find my wildflowers on those kind of leaf covered slopes the book mentioned.
Okay, flower number two is up top. Remember, a new guess on this flower gets you another entry into my giveaway. But if you do guess, please leave a way to contact you or if you don’t want to leave your e-mail here or have trouble leaving a comment (I know some of you do but I can’t seem to fix that) then e-mail me your entry at annhgabhart at yahoo dot com.
Basic Giveaway Scoop
Here’s the basic scoop on the contest in case you didn’t see it on Sunday’s post. The winners will get their choice of one of my books and a grab bag book by a different Christian author. The contest is open to USA and Canada for print books and e-books for international entries. You must be 18 to enter. Deadline for entries is April 18, 2015 at 12 midnight EST. I’ll announce the winners here on April 19.
And remember, if you don’t know the actual flower name, just think about what you might name it and tell me that.
Comments 23
Well I will never get the answer to your question right so I will have just have to name it Job's Arrows because if these flowers were as big as a tree and fell on you I imagine it would make you feel as sorry as Job had to feel.
Author
That's some pretty good thinking on that name, Karen. They would make an interesting arrow point. I'd love to enter you in the drawing, but I will need some help on how to contact you should you win. If you don't want to leave the info here, just e-mail me at annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Author
Hey, Karen, I did get your contact info on the previous guess. I had forgotten to write it down, but I have it now. Thanks.
Green Whisper sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
Author
Like that name too, Sharon. You all are so creative.
Teardrops and Yellowbells
Author
Good names, Ola. And interesting that it follows on the heels of Kristy's comment about her grandmother making a teardrop shape when she talked about nature and God. So far no one has come up with the real name, but I like the imagined ones too. Always good to hear from you.
Grandmother's Dancing Belles. Just made that up, but they are light and lovely and delicate. I can see my Grandmother placing her first finger and thumb together to form a teardrop shape, just like she did when she would talk about God's beautiful creation.
Author
Love that name, Kristy. Makes it even better that it carries your grandmother's love of nature in the image. I know you feel blessed to have known and loved your grandmother.
Clueless! Kate's answer of flying geese was a good one! How about a Dewdrop? 😉
Robin in NC rw620 at aol dot com
Author
Dewdrop is good too, Robin. Somebody called it that on my FB page. So maybe there is a flower dewdrop. But that's not the real name of this one. The flying geese was a good name.
I want to say jonquil, but I know that is incorrect.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Author
We have jonquils blooming now in our field, Mary. They're not wildflowers, but grow where there used to be a house with flowers planted around. I like having a field full of jonquils. Some people call them daffodils, but I grew up calling them jonquils. But that's not this flower. Come back Sunday to find out what it is, at least according to my flower book.
Don't have a clue but if I was to name it I'd choose flying geese:-) kathimariehadden@gmail.com
Author
Love your imaginative name, Kate. Flying geese. Fits the flower very nicely. But I guess we won't rename it. You'll like it's real name too when I tell you on Sunday.
Wow I have never seen this flower but it sure is pretty. It almost looks like an upside down bleeding heart but wrong color this is a stumper!
Author
You'll like the name when I tell you what it is, Peggy. Some of you might even have come up with that name yourselves if you'd used your imagination to name it.
Flower number two is known in my Ozark hills as a dog tooth violet. Early spring bloomer.
Author
Good guess, Mary, but that's not what my KY flower book calls it. I'll have to look up the dog tooth violet. This one is more of a mid-spring bloomer.
I believe the first one is marsh marigold and the one today is Adder's Tongue. I haven't seen them for a while, but my daughter has some in the marsh near her home.
Author
The first one was a wood poppy, Nancee, although I grew up calling them buttercups. Come back Sunday to find out the name of the new flower. Funny how different wildflowers grow in different regions. This is a cliffside woods flower. Not one that would grow in a marsh. Thanks for guessing.
Hey Ann,
I am going to say that it is a Dutchmans Breeches. I hope that I am right. :). oh.hello.hiya@gmail.com
Author
Don't quite have it right yet, although I may post a Dutchmans Breeches before the contest is over. But right or wrong, you still get an entry for every guess on a new post until the drawing. I appreciate how you share the contest posts on your Pinterest, Danie.