Community post
Wild for Wildflowers
This week's bouquet, part of my #foundflowers series, features a small collection of wildflowers growing in the forest of our region. We just moved here a little over a month ago and we quickly fell in love with this special part of the Pacific Northwest. Folks who live here are very proud (and protective) of the fact that this little area called the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion is considered a "global center of biodiversity" (according to World Wild Life).
Perhaps one of the most exciting things about moving to a new place is observing the seasons unfold. Every place is so different in terms of what grows wildly. In southern California, we saw a lot of elderberries, nopal cacti and wild mustards. In northern California, I noticed lots of trilliums and forget-me-nots. And in east Washington, the hillsides were covered with larkspur and arrowleaf balsamroot. When spring arrived here, we were warmly greeted by a beautiful carpet of these intriguing flowers and we are enjoying learning about them a lot!
This lovely, lavender colored lily is called a fawn lily.
From left to right: shooting star, ? (this one is a mystery... it faded quite quickly so it's hard to tell), fawn lily, indian warrior (pedicularis densiflora), and hound's tongue. We found all of these growing together happily in an oak grove where we harvested pedicularis to make a tincture for muscle/skeletal tension (you can read more about pedicularis on @sagescrub's steemit).
This is one of my favorites, hound's tongue. It's a delight to see blue flowers in the forest!
Replies (7)
You've captured the beauty of these blossoms so well @idyllwild! It's interesting to see the lineup in your photo and how well they all go together even though they are so different :)
I am really getting keen on these wildflowers :) I found some more of the wild borage the other day and got to spend some time with them up close. It is so amazing how the shades of purple and blue can change in each flower and between the flowers.. I don't know the word for this but it is so stunning!
Have you ever tried eating the nopales? Or their fruit, tunas (prickly pears)?
Beautiful xx
A true bouquet of spring with more charm and blessings than I can sing of. The kind of bouquet when offered that would make me want to get married!
I've been trying to think up what that mystery flower might be, leafing through my wild-flower books, as if I might have seen it before; but it is most likely only indigenous to North America, so then my North-West European guide books are of no help. Desperate to find out now! (Will try with a resteem.) No fawn-lilies, shooting stars and Indian warriors in my neck of the woods: they make it sound like you live in a fairytale land.
First time I'm jealous of an American (couple): all those different regions in one country, to call "your own" and travel to and fro, from one extreme to the next, searching out the temperate in between, all with (relative?!) ease (at least no need for a passport - although I guess even gardeners need some kind of ID in the USA).
I have tried eating them, both the nopales and fruit! I think they taste quite good!
Your comments are the best. Thank you so much for digging into the mystery flower. I did some research too, but no luck so far. And yes, this bouquet seems like straight out of Peter Pan!
We are definitely quite fortunate to live in this beautiful country with such diverse climate and ecology, and it's good to be reminded of it because we often get mired in the political and environmental issues. Haha, also yes, gardeners have to carry ID too! I wish that wasn't the case :). @sagescrub and I were just discussing how we need to get a new driver's license now that we're in a different state. We also have to reapply for health insurance as it's different in each state. Not to mention filing taxes. Not so easeful haha.
I only like the fruit. There's a rare species native to my area that I would like to try to cultivate and one day, eat. Unfortunately I can't find it