April Shower Brought May Flowers

Today is a lovely day, let's take a walk.

Our frequent April and May showers have led to some very lush growth.

Look at the size of this Bracken Fern!

Here's a the wild Oregon Geranium (Geranium oreganum). It's an uncommon wildflower, so we are lucky to have several plants.

All sorts of wild peas are in bloom.  I've always called this Vetch.

Here's another pea with quite large oval leaves.

And here's yet another one with small fine leaves. 

I've been impressed with the number of blossoms on the Pacific Dogwoods (Cornus nuttallii) and their staying power.

While the blooms look nothing like those of the Pacific Dogwood, this too is a dogwood.  It is the Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) - named for its red stems and bark.

Lots of blossoms means lots of food for butterflies.

Here's the bloom of False Bugbane (Trautvetteria caroliniensis). With a name like that it begs the question of whether there is a True Bugbane!? 

The Large-Leaved Lupine are just coming into bloom.

The Camas are just finishing up.  Our patch down by our mailbox got munched by the deer before most of it could bloom.

I am seeing more blossoms than usual on the Nootka Roses.

We have lots and lots of lots of large shrubs of Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus). It likes stream-side thickets and the edges of moist woods.

Here's a close up.

The Chokecherries (Prunus virginiana) along the Big Creek were early this year.  Thank goodness I took a photo last week.

I've always referred to this as a wild onion.  The common name is Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum). It is just now starting to open and come into bloom.

This is Large-Leaved Avens (Geum macrophyllum). Lots of geums have been hybridized and are garden plants.

Meadow Checker-Mallow (Sidalcea campestris) is so named because that is where it likes to grow.

Also in the meadow is a small patch of Elegant Cat's Ear (Calochortus elegans).

Look how fuzzy the blossom is - it's a great name for this wildflower. 

Only the shape of the petals is a bit different on Tolmie's Mariposa Lily (Calochortus tolmiei). It is fuzzy too.

Not everything is going to bloom in May.  

The first buds of the Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianum) will probably come into bloom in June.  So we have something to look forward to when we walk in a couple of weeks from now.