Are We Walking to Alaska

Are We Walking to Alaska
Are We Walking to Alaska - A True Story

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Wildflowers

Western Washington is full of beautiful wildflowers in the spring - I've captured a few on our drives in the country.
The buttercups are amazing this year - fields that go on for as far as you can see



Perhaps a wild Alium? 


Phlox all along the roadsides - beside fences - along ditches - on hillsides.  The fragrance travels a long way

Banks and fields of lupines - some people mow around the patches to use them as a wild garden.  Masses of them grow along the freeways. 
Pink Clover 
And white clover 
Scotch broom takes over vacant fields and hillsides.  It was brought to the US by immigrants and has escaped and filled thousands of acres in Washington,  Oregon and Northern California.  It is a problem for hay farmers - and yet the bright sunshine yellow cheers up the landscape in the early spring. 

One of the prettiest wildflowers - I've not been able to identify it yet - if you have any knowledge about it I'd love to hear it.  I think it is some kind of wild honeysuckle.  It grows along the roads for miles and miles. 
Ooops - that's not a wildflower - but such a pretty little sparrow, I just couldn't resist. 
And of course the dandelions - all gone to wishes now 
Wild Iris in the marshes and damp roadsides, along ponds, beside slow moving rivers. 

Wild Strawberries cover the lightly shaded roadsides.
I don't think this is a wildflower - I think it is called Shrimp Plant - but it was too pretty to pass up.

  
Fields of wild mustard.  They are getting a lot of competition from the buttercups this year.
I've never seen the Thimbleberries so thick before - they are everywhere and masses of blossoms too.
Fringe Cup - a fast spreading wildflower that loves shady damp areas.  It is sometimes used in gardens as a ground cover.  The flowers are tiny and vary in color form white to dark pink.
The English Hawthorn are blooming now - they reseed easily and there are sometimes small forests of them, if left undisturbed.  
Golden Chain is not a native wildflower, but they spread so quickly that they often act like wildflowers, taking over vast areas with their bright yellow sweet pea-like blossoms and sweet scent.  If you sit under a Golden Chain tree you will here a lovely buzzing of bees.
Tiny English Daisies carpet the meadows and lawns.
Forget Me Nots along road and ponds
Comfry growing in masses along the road, in the shade



Delicate wild Bleeding heart on the banks in shady areas.
Wild Celery everywhere.
Ox-Eye Daisies are beginning to bloom.  They are smaller than Shasta Daisies and grow on hillsides and beside the roads.  Some years the hillsides are so white with them it looks like a light snow.  They reseed easily and if you gather a few seeds and sprinkle them about in your yard you will soon have daisies aplenty.  I love to stop and pick an armful for bouquets in the house.
And wild Roses overwhelming us with happiness!!!




16 comments:

Ailime said...

Olá Joana, belíssimos campos de flores! Adorei todas elas nas suas magnificas multicores que alegram a natureza e nos fazem felizes!
Abraços, Ailime

Latane Barton said...

I think, JoAnn, that I need to make a trip to Washington. I have never seen so many beautiful wildflowers in my life.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous. I love the picture of the horse on the buttercups, and I really wish I could smell that phlox.

Anonymous said...

beautiful! I love the fields of buttercups and the phlox. But my favorite photo has to be the mustard field with the white flowering trees in the background!

Sandie said...

Wow! What a feat of flowers! I especially love the fields of buttercups.... beautiful

The Weaver of Grass said...

Almost all of those wild flowers are here in the UK too JoAnn. And yes, I am sure that is a wild honeysuckle - I can only imagine the smell - and that of the phlox.

alexa said...

I am filled with gladness and envy at this lovely post - oh, how I wish we had all of these here. We do have them but rarely in one landscape ... A cornucopia of loveliness!

Kay said...

Yes, those are native wild honeysuckle. They don't have a scent but they're really beautiful and hummingbirds love them.

Julie Fukuda said...

I'll bet those wild flowers are glad to see all that space to spread out in. Here, they have to compete for some narrow strip. I remember as a kid going to fields of daises and picking buckets full. We then tied them in bunches to each church pew for the Children's Day celebration.

helena said...

amazing fields of gold

greenthumb said...

Just so pretty.

J said...

Your wildflowers cover the entire color spectrum! I love how you capture the richness of the area you live in - the birds, mountains, fields that go on forever - and these lovely blossoms!

Lorrie said...

Wild honeysuckle would be my guess, too. Such a bountiful array of blossoms just now. I've never seen phlox growing wild here, and mine isn't nearly ready to bloom. Enjoy the flowers!

Wildflowerhouse said...

I think you have captured all of them. Fantastic collection.

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

JoAnn, you are such a good teacher. I think you told me once that the strange plant that keeps coming back in my garden is comfrey and my white mystery flowers are an old-fashioned form of phlox. I knew the story about Scotch Broom as we have alot of it around here and there are work parties to get rid of it each year. As a little girl I always called wild celery, queen anne's lace and on the road to my grandmothers there were tons of thimbleberries. I don't see them anymore now. I really need a trip to where you are..Happy Thursday..Judy

Miriam said...

An absolutely fabulous post, a feast of colour and learning too. I have never heard of thimbleberry before, I looked it up on Google images, what a really lovely flower and fruit. The fields of buttercups and mustard are wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your outing with us. Oh! and I love the way you have framed some of the photos. Photos within photos, just lovely.