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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Beacon Hill Spring Bouquet

It's said that when Hudson Bay Factor (and later Governor) James Douglas was sailing past this place in 1843, he saw these meadows of Camas Lilies on the slopes of Beacon Hill and decided to found Fort Victoria nearby. What he thought was a natural phenomenon we now know was a human artifact. These glorious meadows are the result of selective cultivation by the local Lekwammen native people, who harvested the edible roots of the Blue Camas Lily as food. They called Victoria "Camosun", which means something like "place of Camas." While the Camas here are no longer harvested, they still form a fabulous carpet of blue on Beacon Hill at this time of year. The intermixed white flowers are Fawn Lilies and the yellow are Buttercups.

5 comments:

Jabba said...

I love pictures like this. Maybe I'll drive over there today and see if I can find them.

Fiona Cohen said...

Now I'm homesick.

Jane Hards Photography said...

This floral carpet is incredible.

Leeds daily photo said...

Nice photo, I really like wild flowers, even if cultivated ones.
Leeds Photo Daily

Carolyn said...

Simply beautiful!