Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Medicago sativa

We have been under a heat warning recently, and yesterday's temperature got up to either 31C or 32C. It was just unbearable in my place and I needed to get out for a short drive and be in the air-conditioning of my car. We have also been having rain on some days, which was desperately needed. As I headed out west yesterday, I could see that I was heading towards a grey sky and, sure enough, the rain started. Not the best sort of day for photos, but I managed to get a few to keep me happy. All of the roads were my usual roads, though the views from them all had smoke haze. I'm not sure which wildfires this smoke is coming from - down in the US, or British Columbia, or from fires in our own province? I haven't noticed a smokey smell, though. Last summer, 2017, was dreadful for non-stop smoke and heat. I love Alfalfa flowers, as not only can a flower cluster be white, yellow, purple and so on, but some individual clusters can be a mix of different colours. “Alfalfa, a plant of the pea family grown primarily for forage, especially as hay. It is one of the most useful and widely grown hay crops in the world. Because of its high protein content, alfalfa is used as a food for almost all farm animals as hay, as silage, or as a temporary pasture crop. Because of its nitrogen-fixing properties, it is used in crop rotation to improve soil for other crops. When planted in combination with grasses, it helps prevent soil erosion. Alfalfa is also grown commercially for seed in arid or semiarid regions. Dehydrated alfalfa is ground into meal and used in feeding poultry and livestock. Indirectly, alfalfa is a source of honey, because bees gather substantial quantities of nectar from alfalfa flowers.” www.alfalfaseedab.com/ Along one of the gravel roads, I suddenly spotted two pairs of ears sticking up from a green field - a White-tailed doe and a youngster. The next photo was the sharpest of the three or four photos I grabbed before they took off at high speed. Unfortunately, it only shows the mother. A young Magpie was one of several in a family along one of the backroads. Love its fluffy feathers. It only rested on a fence post for a few seconds. Other than a few of the usual birds, such as Brewer's Blackbirds, Cedar Waxwings and Eastern Kingbirds, the only bird that was different was a Wilson's Snipe that was at the far water's edge of a large pond. Too far for even remotely decent photos, but it made a change to see a Snipe on the ground and not on a fence post.

Today (12 October 2014) is Thanksgiving Day for Canadians, so I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, no matter what part of the world you are living in or serving in. We have so much to be thankful for every day, in this country! A special thank you to those service people and their families, who make so many sacrifices for the rest of us, too often the ultimate sacrifice. I am very thankful for what you all do for the rest of us. Have a happy, safe time, everyone! Some people choose to celebrate on the Sunday (today) and others on the Monday (tomorrow). From my archives, this photo of Alfalfa was taken along one of the backroads SW of Calgary, on 21 July 2010. I love the way Alfalfa flowers come in various colours and different colour mixes on the same flower head. “Alfalfa, a plant of the pea family grown primarily for forage, especially as hay. It is one of the most useful and widely grown hay crops in the world. Because of its high protein content, alfalfa is used as a food for almost all farm animals as hay, as silage, or as a temporary pasture crop. Because of its nitrogen-fixing properties, it is used in crop rotation to improve soil for other crops. When planted in combination with grasses, it helps prevent soil erosion. Alfalfa is also grown commercially for seed in arid or semiarid regions. Dehydrated alfalfa is ground into meal and used in feeding poultry and livestock. Indirectly, alfalfa is a source of honey, because bees gather substantial quantities of nectar from alfalfa flowers.” www.alfalfaseedab.com/

Took this macro shot of an Alfalfa flower at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area in the city, on August 18th. "Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle, and is most often harvested as hay, but can also be made into silage, grazed, or fed as greenchop. Alfalfa has the highest feeding value of all common hay crops, being used less frequently as pasture. When grown on soils where it is well-adapted, alfalfa is the highest yielding forage plant." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa

Alfalfa is one of my favourite wildflowers. There are so many colour combinations in one flower cluster, anything from plain, deep purple, to yellow or green, even pale blue and purple mix as in my photo here. Photographed (supermacro) at Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area on August 18th last year. The two images below have been previously posted. "Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle, and is most often harvested as hay, but can also be made into silage, grazed, or fed as greenchop. Alfalfa has the highest feeding value of all common hay crops, being used less frequently as pasture. When grown on soils where it is well-adapted, alfalfa is the highest yielding forage plant." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa

A macro of Alfalfa. I love these flowers, as not only can a flower cluster be white, yellow, purple and so on, but some individual clusters can be a mix of different colours, too, as seen here. I thought this was a specially nice flower head. Photographed at Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area in the city. Just got home a short while ago from a full day of hiking at Bow Valley Provincial Park, which is right on the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. I think the temperature was around 10C when we started walking and I believe it got up to around 19C by the end of the afternoon, when the black clouds started to move in. It was a beautiful sky - I don't think another single cloud could have been squeezed into it - so much more interesting than a plain blue one. Blue Asters were almost the only wildflowers to be seen still in bloom - always so depressing after the very short growing season that we have here. The forest was empty of fungi, except for one unphotogenic Pholiota (?) that was growing sideways on a tree. However, we saw a variety of birds, including a Kingfisher, Merlin and Sharp-shinned Hawk. Not a day for photos, really, other than a few shots of stunning scenery. Not a bad thing, as I must have taken something like 500 or 600 photos on yesterday's trip south of the city, LOL! Absolutely gorgeous day today, much enjoyed - thanks so much, Andrew! Thanks, Marion, too, for driving us there and back - much appreciated!

One of my favourite wildflowers because the colours vary tremendously, including on one flower. This one is fairly plain. Alfalfa was introduced from southeastern Europe. It is an abundant, commonly cultivated forage plant, escaping to disturbed areas.

I love the variety of colour in each Alfalfa flower. They can be anything from dark purple to yellow.