Emily Carr's Lilies

When one thinks of the paintings of Emily Carr it's usually our coastal forest on a grand scale that comes to mind, towering trees or totems spiraling into the sky. But Emily Carr loved the small things too and some of her favorites were these lovely spring flowers, the Giant White Fawn Lilies. She painted them too, and there's a story attached to the painting, one of her early works.

Emily Carr’s sisters had some issues with her art. Too modern. But there was one painting of hers that big sister Elizabeth Carr loved. Wild Lilies, likely painted in the early 1890s when Emily was at art school in San Francisco, was a great favourite of hers.

“Elizabeth absolutely loved this painting and Emily felt like it was the only time she ever got praise from one of her sisters over her paintings,” says Mary Jo Hughes, chief curator of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV).

Elizabeth – or Lizzie – became ill with breast cancer and in her dying days, was cared for by the Sisters of St. Ann at St. Joseph’s Hospital. After her death in 1936, Emily gave the sisters the painting in gratitude for the care her sister had received.

From "The Globe and Mail" (Marsha Lederman)

The Sisters of St. Ann recently donated the painting to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Giant White Fawn Lily

Here's another native plant of the North Pacific Coast, the small (despite its name) Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). These were photographed in the forest remanants of the Matson Lands above the West Bay Walkway. In my experience, this south-facing hillside over the water is one of the earliest spots around the city where these may be seen in the spring.

Giant White Fawn Lily

I posted a photo of some Indian Plum blossoms last week as the first local spring wildflower to bloom this year. Here's another local wildflower I saw last week along the West Bay Walkway, the Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). These are few on the ground now but over the next three or four weeks they will be sprinkled all over the meadows and forest floors in this area.

Giant White Fawn Lily

Here is another of our native wildflowers, the Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). Before I see them anywhere else they usually bloom in the woods on a south-facing hillside above Sailor's Cove. But soon they will be dotting the forest floor all over this area with their delightful down-turned blossoms, another sign that spring is here.

Mount Douglas Carpeted with Giant White Fawn Lilies

To continue recapping my spring wildflower posts, here are a few more Giant White Fawn Lily photos, both taken recently on Mount Douglas. There are dense patches of these splendid wildflowers all over the mountain at this time of year. The photo above gives some idea of this. Below is a photo of the entire plant that shows the beautifully dappled markings that give this little lily its name because of their similarity to the markings on young deer.

Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum)

Here is the spring flower I found yesterday, a Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). This one was blooming near the West Bay Walkway and very near to where I saw the deer I posted photos of yesterday. When I look back at previous years I see that my first sighting of this spring harbinger is earlier this year than in the past and it does seem like it's been warmer this March than in other years. In any case I'm happy to see these little lilies blooming since they always signal warmer weather to come.

Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum)

Here's another of my favorite spring flowers, the Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum), that is now blooming in Highrock Cairn Park as well as along the West Bay Walkway (look in the woods below Swallows Landing).

A Million Lilies

Mount Douglas is covered with Giant White Fawn Lilies. In ranks and banks they dot the mountainside and line the trails, an orgy of blossom. The photo above shows only a small example of these splendid little wildflowers that are scattered wantonly throughout the park.

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When I passed a thousand posts on this blog a little while ago I promised some changes and new directions. A few of these will start this weekend. Saturdays will now become "Somewhere Saturdays" meaning that I will post a photo from some place other than Victoria. Since I've spent much of my life in other countries I have many photos and memories that may provide a contrast to a steady diet of Victoria. Secondly, Sunday and Monday posts will be handled by my daughter, Fern Long, who posts under the name of the Front Street Gang. She contributed here while I was away in India recently and has agreed to these two days each week so I have time for other projects. Thus Victoria Daily Photo will now provide a bit of a window on the world on Somewhere Saturdays and a look at Victoria through another lens on Sundays and Mondays.

Early Bloomers

I was a little afraid that my trip to India meant that I missed the splendid progression of wildflowers that blooms here in the spring. So it was with some trepidation that I ventured out yesterday to nearby Highrock Park, a little oasis of Garry Oak Ecosystem here in Vic West, to see how far along spring has gotten. I was happy to see that of the early bloomers, these lovely little lilies were most prominent and that the dense stands of deep blue Camas Lilies are yet to come. Today's photo is of the Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). I have featured these before in springs gone by. I have added the photo on the left to show the beautifully patterned leaves that give this lily its name. The brownish patterns are thought to resemble the dappled coats of fawns.

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.

Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum)

Here's another old friend on the roll call of spring flowers, the Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). I'm not too sure why it's called "Giant" since I've never seen any that were very big. It's considerably smaller than a Tiger Lily, for instance. In any case I always like to see these graceful blooms amongst the rocks and mosses of our local parks.