Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The North Dakota Wild Prairie Rose

Namaskar
('Hello' in West Bengal, India)



Today I am going to be covering the State Flower of North Dakota,
and some fun trivia facts,
gorgeous photos
and who knows what else!

You'll never guess what the state flower is...



Oh, yeah, the Wild Prairie Rose.... guess I said that at the beginning!

Of course, it had to be a rose,
as that is the flower of the month!


The correct, botanical name is

rosa arkansana

I also found some sites that list it as:

rosa blanda

I'm going with rosa arkansana, as that was by far the most frequently listed.



Enough technical stuff, let's get on to the fun!

Here is a coloring page with
 both North Dakota's State Flower, and State Bird:



When I started researching the wild prairie rose, North Dakota, etc.
I found something really cool!

We have a pair of Western Meadowlarks that are nesting at the corner of our roof!! 



Now, ours don't look near this fat, but everything else is right.
They both have beautiful yellow underbellies and under wings,
along with a little on top of their head.
No dull female colors for this pair!


Before this, we didn't know what kind of bird we had.
I think that's cool!

I found this wonderful papercutting site, which offers each state and bird, with a silhouette of the state in the middle.
Very clever.
Very cool.
I guess cool is the word for the day....


Next up, a lovely decoupaged wood frame with probably flower gift wrap, although you could certainly make this with dried and pressed flowers, torn catalog listings, botanical print old books,
dictionary definitions, etc.


This particular frame is for sale on etsy,
but I do not have the creator's shop name.
Let me know if you know who I should credit, please.



How did you make out with the New York famous people quiz?
I find biographies just fascinating.

Do yourself a favor, if you haven't read a biography or an autobiography lately, do it!

Ready for some North Dakota trivia?

AAA (American Auto Association) rates North Dakota as
 the most affordable vacation state.

North Dakota (referred to from now on as 'ND')
 is also rated as the safest state to live in,
and the #1 state for high school completion rates
That's some pretty good PR going on there.

'Dakota' is derived from the Sioux word for "friend".

ND is home to many tribes of the Sioux nation,
notably Lakota, Dakota, Hunkpapa, Hidatsa +

Hunkpapa Sioux leader, Chief Sitting Bull,
surrendered at Fort Buford, ND,1881.
He was murdered Dec.15, 1890.
North Dakota was the original burial ground for him.


The International Peace Garden
is located on US (ND) and Canadian (Manitoba) borders.

State Motto:

Liberty and Union
Now and Forever
One and Inseparable

Great spelling word there - inseparable!



The Dakota Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson
holds the world's largest intact triceratops skull.
It weighs 1,500 pounds!


Okay, I just have to include this trivia fact:
Grand Forks, ND holds
the World's Largest French Fry Feed
 every year, during Potato Bowl USA.

In 2006 a new World Record was set
with 4,620 pounds of French fries
served at the French Fry Frenzy.
Around 10,000 people were served
about 113 gallons of ketchup also!

I bet the air smells like cooking oil for miles!


Lovely embroidery, courtesy of http://www.turkeyfeathers.typepad.com/

Next up is a peyote beading pattern.
You could make this
into a wall hanging, amulet necklace
or as a beaded 'patch' to be sewn on another item.



Wouldn't this be a gorgeous wedding gift, with the beaded pattern section sewn into the middle of a satin or taffeta pillow?

ND Trivia:
In 1877 there were strong efforts to make the Dakota Territory to become both as a single state, and as two separate states.
Sounds like a lot of high feelings in the air.

On November 2, 1889
both North and South Dakotas were admitted.

President Benjamin Harrison tried to obscure
the order in which the statehood proclamations were signed,
so the exact order of each state was unknown.

Things like that can be important, at the moment, for some people.

Because of alphabetical position,
North Dakota is considered to be the 39th state.

(You know, 'N' is before 'S'.)

I bet there are a LOT of interesting stories attached to that!


North Dakota is home
to more wildlife refuges than any other state.


North Dakota AMERICAN DREAM COME TRUE:

Lawrence Welk was born in Strasburg, ND.
This famous "Champagne Music Maker" went
from a simple sod house (preserved)
 to national television fame 
and on to his very own television program,
much beloved by many.
They still show re-runs of his shows!

This stained glass pattern is available from glasshauntauctivacommerce.com 

Famous actresses and singers born in ND:

Angie Dickinson
Peggy Lee
Ann Sothern



More famous people born in ND:

Louis L'Amour (author)
Sacagawea (Lewis and Clark interpreter)
Sondre Norheim (pioneer of modern skiing)
Leonard Peltier (American Indian Activist) 
Judge Ronald Davies -
(ordered integration of Little Rock Central High in the 1960's)

this photo shows the rose hips from the rosa arkansana

Well, I'm about North Dakota'd out.
Obviously there is tons more to the state,
but that's all for today, for me.


I hope you are starting to recognize the different roses.
There are literally hundreds of species and colors of Roses.


There are appoximately 1.2 BILLION roses produced annually.
I'm pretty sure that must be worldwide!


Feel free to send me some!!!

:0)

inkspired

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