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!!!

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