Saturday, March 21, 2015

Spring Wildflowers


Monday, March, 16th, was a beautiful sunny day and my wife and I decided to take the day off and head for the coast to see which spring wildflowers were blooming after a very mild winter and a very early start to spring weather.  We especially wanted to see the Grass Widows, Olsynium douglasii, one of the earliest spring wildflowers in our area.

We went first to the area of Deception Pass and walked the bridge there to Pass Island, a small, steep-sided island that connects the two parts of the bridge.  We only found a few Grass Widows - they seemed to no earlier than usual - but found quite a few other wildflowers blooming and spent most of the morning photographing our finds.

Finished at Pass Island we went a little to the northwest of the bridge to Bowman Bay where we had some lunch and sat enjoying the sunshine before hiking the Bowman Bay to Rosario Bay trail, a trail that follows the bluffs to the north of Deception Pass.  The trail is only a couple of miles round trip and we spent most of the time taking photos.

We found wildflowers in bloom that we had not expected to find in spite of an early spring, including some Harsh Paintbrush, Castilleja hispida, but the real find was the first Western Fairy Slippers, Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis,  They are not usually blooming until early April, so we were surprised to find them, though there were only a few in bloom.

From Bowman Bay we went briefly to Washington Park to see if the Fairy Slippers were blooming there also, as indeed they were, though again, only a few.  We did not stay long at Washington Park because we wanted to go on to see the tulips and daffodils in the Skagit Valley, but that and what we found besides the spring bulbs is the subject of another post.

Deception Pass and Bridge




Fox Sparrow


Sara's Orange Tip



Grass Widows




Common Camas


 Spring Gold


 Shepherd's Purse
(not at all sure of this one)


Early Saxifrage




 Coast Strawberry


 Prairie Star


  Western Buttercup


Douglas Fir
male and female cones






Douglas Fir


Tall Oregon-grape



Red-flowering Currant



Pacific Madrones




 Mushroom, Lichens and Moss




Bowman Bay




Bowman Beach to Rosario Beach Trail




Pacific Madrones


 Western Red Cedar


 Birch Catkins


Harsh Paintbrush


 Red-flowering Currant


 Dog Lichens


 Pixie Cup Lichens


 Many-flowered Wood Rush


Giant Rattlesnake Orchis


Western Fairy Slipper




4 comments:

Upupaepops said...

I have only been to Washington Park and did not see Grass Widow last weekend. Only 2 calypso and a few Fawn Lily open the rest coming on.
Went over to whiskey Dick ( west of Ginko) and had good early flower action

A am envious of the Sara Orange Tip, they never settle!

Ron said...

Very few Grass Widows this year for some reason. The Orange Tip was still warming itself in the sun on a cool morning. Thanks, Marti.

Fizgig said...

So many beautiful flowers & plants!! Some exquisite shots, too =) Thank you for sharing these wonderful places 'n' things!

Ron said...

Thanks, Fizzie. One of our favorite areas.