Young Buck

I took a spin up to Walbran Park this afternoon for the view and was rewarded by being able to spend a pleasant half-hour with this young Blacktail buck. Though he kept a wary eye on me he allowed me to come quite close. As you can see in the photo to the left, I'm not the only one who is fond of Camas Lilies.

Macaulay Point

The entrance to Victoria Harbour lies between two points, Ogden Point (where the cruise ships dock) marks the eastern side of the harbour entrance and Macaulay Point (above) marks the western side of the entrance. In the photo above we are looking at Macaulay Point from its western side. If we walked over the top of it we would see the harbour and the city spread out before us. I didn't go so far today because I got sidetracked by the rich profusion of Camas Lilies among the rocks.

Camas

Despite the subnormal temperatures this year and the cloudy skies, the Camas Lilies have once again spread their carpet of blue over the slopes of Highrock Park.

Spring Update

Here's another wildflower that is blooming up in Highrock Park now. They look like what are commonly called Buttercups except they are on tall stems rather than being close to the ground. You can also see some of the deep blue Camas Lilies in this photo, taken last week. I intend to visit this park soon - perhaps tomorrow - since it is never more beautiful than when the Camas are in bloom.

A Few More From Highrock Park

At this time of year when the Camas are blooming I can't get enough of Highrock Park so here are a few more. Below is the path I usually follow to get to the Camas patches like the one above.

Dog's Eye View

In the spring the grass is left to grow on the bluffs overlooking the beach along Dallas Road and is a riot of green, purple and yellow thanks to the grass, camas, and buttercups. I figure this is maybe a idea of what our four legged friends see. - Fern

Highrock Park

At this time of year when the Camas Lilies are blooming Highrock park really seems like a little bit of Eden or some other earthly paradise.

Christmas Hill

Benjamin and I spent a lovely afternoon on Friday up in this truly magical park. It is a great look out spot, affording views in all directions but I love it most for exploring the many paths that take you through the garry oak meadows. At this time of year it is so lush, green and purple thanks to the camas. - Fern

Fort Rodd Hill - Garry Oak Learning Meadow

Just above the tenting facility pictured yesterday is another relatively new project at Fort Rodd Hill, the Garry Oak Learning Meadow. As well as fairly common wildflowers such as the Buttercups and Camas Lilies in the photo above, there are less common indigenous treasures such as the Red Columbine on the left. In addition there are personable Parks Canada staff working in the meadow who are very knowledgeable and happy to provide information about the Garry Oak Ecosystem.

Gonzales Bay, Ross Bay and Clover Point

This is the view from Gonzales Hill looking the same direction as Saturday's photo. In the foreground is Gonzales Bay and beyond that is Ross Bay, bounded by Clover Point. There were patches of the luscious purple Camas Lilies blooming in all the rock crevices atop the hill.

Highrock Park

Highrock Park, like many of Victoria's little parks, is not an area of carefully cultivated flower beds, lawns and hedges but is rather a bit of the original landscape preserved. Right now Highrock Park is at its most beautiful and I defy any gardener to match its range and richness of color and form. The purple flowers below are Camas Lilies and give some idea of the lush palette that is on offer now.

Camas Lilies (Camas quamash)

Many wildflowers grow in great numbers here during the spring but none of them in such profusion as these splendid Camas Lilies (Camas quamash). They are no longer classified as members of the lily family but many people continue to refer to them as lilies. The bulbs of this plant were an important food source for First Nations people over wide areas of North America. The bulbs were not gathered until late summer. Some were roasted and eaten but they could also be dried and ground into a kind of flour.

Spring Blues

Bluebells aren't the only blues on the spring scene right now. There are also patches of Grape Hyacinths (genus Muscari)(above) and the Camas Lilies (Camassia quamash) (below) are starting to bloom too, providing a beautiful contrast to the luminous greens of the new grass. In a few days the intense royal blue of the Camas will thickly carpet the mossy hillsides of the Garry Oak ecosystem that is preserved at Highrock Park. Now we prize them for their beauty but Camas Lilies were an important food source before European colonization in this area. These dense stands of Camas are the result of selective cultivation and harvesting of the bulbs of these plants by the local native peoples (the Songhees Nation or Lekwungen) in the past. The bulbs were dried and ground into a kind of flour that could be stored and eaten later.

Red Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)

One of the reasons I love the patches of rich blue Camas we have at this time of year is how they set off colors and plants that otherwise are are less noticeable, in this case these relatively inconspicuous Red Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) plants in Highrock Park.

Camas

I've posted photos of Camas before but as well as being a beautiful spring flower it is so historically significant here that I have to post a photo of it every time this season comes around. The bulbs of this plant were an important source of food for the native peoples here and throughout the northwest and the local name for this area long before James Douglas built Fort Victoria here was Camosun or Place of Camas.

Micro-climates

Taking a lot of photos encourages one to look at the world with a little more attention. Making regular daily blog postings increases this since it provides some historical reference for what one sees and records. Lately I've been noticing the differences in micro-climates in some of the local parks and how much they can change from year to year. The white flowers in this photo are some of my favorite spring flowers, Giant White Fawn Lilies. They are blooming in a Beacon Hill meadow that will soon be carpeted with the deep blue blossoms of Camas, a few buds of which are visible in the above photo. Judging by last year's flower progression I figured the meadow above would be a sea of blue by this time because I posted a photo of some fawn lilies back in March and they bloom just before the Camas. However, what I'm learning is that those lilies I photographed in Saxe Point Park were several weeks ahead of these on Beacon Hill. Also, probably because of our warm winter, all our spring flowers are a few weeks ahead of last year.

Impossibly Beautiful

After several days of featureless gray skies the clouds finally parted last evening and a river of sunlight poured through the rain-washed air. I went up to nearby Cairn Park and was stunned by the brilliant blue carpets of Camas Lilies spread luxuriantly in hollows between the mossy rock outcrops.There are times when this landscape is more beautiful than seems possible and photos such as these are but poor approximations of reality.

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.

Camosun - "Place to Gather Camas"

Pictured above is a Camas Lily (Camassia quamash). This indigenous wild flower gave Victoria its original name of Camosun or "place to gather camas." The bulb was regularly harvested by the Songhees Nation. Their harvesting and cultivation practices for this plant resulted in the beautiful meadows that inspired Hudson Bay Factor James Douglas to build Fort Victoria on the site of the modern city. Some remnants of these meadows, known now as the Garry Oak Ecosystem, may still be seen in Beacon Hill Park. Were it not for this flower there might well not be any modern city of Victoria.