Grape Hyacinths

Grape Hyacinths are not native wildflowers but have become so widespread and have naturalized themselves so successfully they are a welcome sight in the early spring. Here they are usually even ahead of the Satin Flowers pictured yesterday and they have one advantage - on their sturdy stems they are much easier to photograph when it's windy. These were growing only a few feet away from the Satin Flowers pictures yesterday. What's up next? There's still no sign of the Giant Fawn Lilies or Shooting Stars but sometime soon they'll start appearing.

Grape Hyacinth

Here's another addition to the spring roll-call of flowers, some Grape Hyacinths. Like Daffodils, these are not native to North America but they have naturalized themselves to the extent that one is likely to encounter them anywhere there is a little room to grow. Those pictured above were photographed on the West Bay Walkway a few days ago, on the same hillside where the Giant White Fawn Lilies are blooming now.

Spring Wildflowers Recap

I am always so happy to see spring wildflowers arrive that I often post the earliest photos I take rather than the best. So, here is a bit of a revisiting of some of this spring's early photos. Above are some Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii). This photo was taken near the summit of Mount Douglas and the Shooting Stars blooming there grow surrounded by low groundcover like moss. This makes the basal leaves much more visible so it is possible to get a good picture of the whole plant rather than just the flower. Below is a Satinflower (Olsynium douglasii). Generally the blooms on these are so close to the ground and droop downwards so much that it is impossible to see the inside of the flower. This one is lifted just enough to enable a good view of the interior. Also, the entire plant is visible.Finally, earlier this year I posted an early photo of a Grape Hyacinth (genus Muscari) in bud. Below you can see what they are like now in glorious profusion. These (and the Satinflower above) were photographed in Highrock Park here in Vic West.

Grape Hyacinth

Here's another entry in the roll call of spring flowers, the Grape Hyacinth. Like Lucile's Glory of the Snow this is another import that has naturalized itself in Highrock Park and elsewhere. This one is still all bunched up and looking a little cold but soon their rich blues will add another note to the spring symphony.

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.