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| Olsynium douglasii |
One of the special "bennies" of doing a lecture tour is the visits to gardens and nature one can pursue on the side, as it were...and my trip to Victoria to celebrate the 100 Anniversary of the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society has been especially rewarding. A friend I first met through social media, and whom I've visited in the past (Erik Fleischer) wafted me to Mount Wells--a natural area not far from Victoria, to see the "satin flowers" (
Olsynium douglasii) at their peak. This is one of the northernmost colonies of these irids--with only outliers growing north of here on the Gulf islands...
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Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii
But there were far more than just satin flowers blooming: we saw rosettes of shooting stars all over the place, but only one in full bloom.
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| Arctostaphylos columbiana |
Lots of manzanita on the slope--this is one I have Got To Get Growing!
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| Claytonia exigua ssp. glauca |
Identified for me on Facebook by J
osé Manuel Álvarez Guerrero: I wondered if it wasn't a form of miner's lettuce--but the silvery foliage and habit (and habitat) indicated something unique.
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| Olsynium douglasii |
You're going to see a lot of these: they were up here by the thousand! Very hard to capture the numbers in the gray light and drizzle!
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| Ribes sanguineum |
A particularly dark red form of this gorgeous shrub in the woods.
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| Olsynium douglasii |
More satin flowers...(what a great name!)
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| Olsynium douglasii |
And more satin flowers...
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| Olsynium douglasii |
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| Olsynium douglasii |
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| Arbutus menziesii |
Another madrone, madrona, arbutus, m
adroño (tree of many names!): so glad A. texana (xalapensis) is so hardy! |
| Yep: a dead tree: would we all looked so good in the afterlife! |
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| Lomatium utriculatum |
Apparently widespread on the West Coast of north America--this one was common up here too..
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| Plectritis (Valeriana) congesta |
Seen a few weeks ago in the Bay area, this is one darling Valerian, growing with an annual
Collinsia here..
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| Sedum spathulifolium & Selaginella |
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| Sedum spathulifolium and Polypodium glychirhiza |
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| Douglas fir trunk draped with mosses |
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| My host for the day, Erik Fleischer |
Thank you Erik! What a wonderful sojourn this was last Friday afternoon: the steep, rocky trail in the rain was a bit of a thrill in spots: but we had one of the most spectacular mountains I've ever climbed ALMOST to ourselves (I think we saw 3 other people all afternoon) and the views were stunning. Such are the high points of a lucky life!
Thank you, Panayoti and Eric. Few of the wonderful herbaceous species you showed is even familiar to me. Olsynium douglasii is a gem & also loved the Valeriana congesta. At a distance the Olsynium has a very similar feeling to some of the wild Gladiolus.
ReplyDeleteLived out there for the first 20 years of my life and never heard of satin flowers or Mount Wells. Sadly back then wasn't interested in the flora and fauna. Looks like a gorgeous hike.
ReplyDeleteOooohhh... I swam in the Sooke River as a girl and I lived my first 10 years in Victoria but I've never been up Mount Wells. How lovely.
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