Weekend Wildflowers

On my walks this weekend, the recent rains had knocked down tons of madrone blossoms. You may be able to see the hundreds of tiny round white blossoms in this photo. I didn't appreciate that they also have a slight sweet fragrance, which permeated parts of the woodland trails.

The paths were still moist, and everything was clean - though many blossoms suffered from the rain.

Once pollinated, these blossoms lead the way to producing bright orange-red berries in the late summer/early fall, which are eaten by many birds.

These berries inspired "Madrone Gifts 1."

Moving down the pathway also brought me to a few other wildflowers.

There weren't many of these, but I saw this flower (below) in a shaft of light in the more heavily-forested side of the trail I was walking. It made quite a splash. It's called Indian Paintbrush.








The last photo I show here (below) is of a quieter, almost hidden flower that seemed rather shy to announce itself. It's called Henderson's Triteleia.

I really enjoy walking on the trails from week to week. There are new waves of flowers in the spring to early summer, and it's like discovering new gems each weekend.

I wonder what will pop up next weekend?

Spring on the Home Front

It's been a lovely spring - if not extremely changeable weather-wise. One day it's 80 degrees F, the next day it hails.

I'm very fortunate to live near miles of protected woodlands. A couple of trails are my favorites. Ever since the weather improved in early March, I've been walking these paths each weekend, noting the changing cycles of wildflowers.





Early spring brought these ethereal Fawn Lilies (Erythronium hendersonii)








And carpets of Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii).





Then there were clumps of blue-eyed Hounds Tongue (Cynoglossum grande).











By the beginning of April, most of the Fawn Lilies were gone, and the Shooting Stars were fading. Then the wild fritillaries began popping up amongst the bright red new leaves of poison oak. There are two that grow here: Scarlet (Fritillaria recurva)...







...and Gentner's (Gentner frittilaria), the latter becoming rare. It was exciting to see them, especially the exotic, graceful Gentner's which sometimes grows obligingly right at the trails' edges for ease of viewing.






Along another trail, I come across what I call my "thinking spot."


This happens to be one of those rare places that's poison oak-free. Whenever I have what seem to be insoluble problems on my mind, I spend a little time here sitting on this log. After a while, what seemed dire before loses its grip on my thoughts. Nature's slow and quiet rhythms soothe me and I can walk on with a lighter heart.