Still Walking

Yes, I have alot of "Bee" charts in my stash.  I think my BAP for this month will be the chart on the upper left.  It will be a challenge with over 16 speciality stitches comprising the skep.  Of course I do not have the proper linen or the Gloriana silks...so stay tuned! 

There's so much to see this time of year!

Let's continue our Wildflower Walk.

Our sunny meadow are now dotted with Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum).  I always thought they were a wild onion, but they are a member of the lily family.

This is False Bugbane (Trautvetteria caroliniensis). It's a native that prefers moist shade. 

Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata) was blooming in early April.  Two months later, it is still going strong.

We have two or three different wild lupines.  This, I think, is the Large Leaved Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus). 

This is Sticky Cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa). I like how the yellow petals are off-set with a green background.  It too is a native.

I showed a couple of photos of Checkermallow yesterday.  But I could not resist this mix of vetch and mallow - such pretty colors.    

I admit my ignorance - I think this might be an Arnica of some sort - we'll just call this a Yellow Composite!

Creeping Buttercups (Ranunculus repens) - an invasive non-native, but still very pretty I think. 

Last summer on a walk to our local Farmers' Market, my sister and I stumbled across this plant.  We were floored!  How on earth did a squash plant 'escape' and become so large?

As it turns out this is a native called Coast Manroot (Marah oreganus).  It is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, so looks very squash-like.  The root of some plants is massive - up to 300 pounds!  The plants I saw stretched along an area of over 100 yards...and they took no prisoners climbing up blackberry vines, Scotch Broom, trees.  I think this could be the Kudzu of the Pacific Northwest.  The fruit looks like cucumbers, but is supposed to be extremely bitter - not good to eat.   

The Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus) is in full bloom now.  It is such a pretty shrub.  I'd like to have some closer to the house. 

I found a couple of really nice groups of Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) growing in dappled sunlight along side the road.

It is amazing to me that I continue to find new wildflowers.  I was looking at a patch of Corn Lilies when these bright yellow blossoms caught my eye.  This is not the best photo, but I could not get closer as the plants are living in what amounts to a bog - or the next best thing.  This is the Seep-Spring Monkeyflower or Common Western Monkey Flower (Mimulus guttatus).  This native thrives in wet seeps; there were three or four plants that I could see. 

This proved to be a long walk today! I hope you did not get too weary.