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Saturday 29 March 2014

Wildflowers

The wildflowers are blooming on M Hill.  That's what a friend tells me.  So I scramble over rocks and up dry stream beds.  I have a camera around my neck and a toddler on my back -- a bit ambitious perhaps, but how else will I see these seasonal beauties?


From the parking lot I start along a forested trail, but it doesn't take long to climb up from the fir canopy into meadows of moss, punctuated by outcroppings of bare bedrock.



There's little soil here, so trees grow small.  Arbutus, twisted and red, was the first coastal tree that I learned to identify.  Garry Oak are less showy, but utterly unique to this region.  These trees are survivors.  Stunted and gnarly, they look it.


But it's the flowers I came to see.  They're subtle, small enough to be missed.  

 

Fawn Flower.  Shooting Star.  Satin Flower.  They sprout from the shallowest of earth and fling their fragile hearts open to the spring blusters.  What brave souls.


I lean over a rock, sprawl on the damp ground, contort myself around a shrub to meet them.  They drip dew and quietly conjure the sun out from behind the clouds.  Hello spring.


Linking, for the last time this season, to Sunlit Sunday at My Little Home and Garden.  Thank you for hosting, Karen.


15 comments:

  1. Oh my, but these are such pretty shots. I do love those Johnson's Shooting Stars, but my favorite is the last one. It looks like it's doing exactly as you've written - opening its heart to spring blusters. Well done.

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  2. Cristal, I like the way you write. It's so descriptive I can envision what you describe. Your sentences sound very nice when read out loud. I love your last photo and last paragraph. Very poetic.

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  3. How lovely! Wildflowers have a special look, don't they?! Lovely images and words. Happy Sun Lit Sunday.

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  4. Oh lucky you to be seeing these already! You captured such beautiful images of these flowers! Thank you for sharing!

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  5. I'm glad you made the climb to photograph the gnarly trees and (seemingly delicate) wildflowers. You write so beautifully, Cristal. I got wrapped up in the language and the images in this post.

    Sunlit Sunday has been a lovelier gathering because of your participation this year. Thank you.

    -Karen

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  6. Oh my gosh, moss, wildflowers, green anything...what a perfect place. I recognize all of those beauties...but I was naming them by their botanical name, lol. Old habits die hard.

    Jen

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  7. Arbutus! oh- reminds me of my teenage years- what beautiful trees. The flowers and moss are lovely too- nice photos- you've got me feeling nostalgic!

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  8. Your pictures are beautiful. So nice to find you via Sunlit Sunday.

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  9. Cristal these photos and flowers are so beautiful! You took some great pictures of them. The green moss and gnarly trees just add to the mystery of the place. Thank you for that bit of joy. Blessings. Pamela

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  10. What fun to find flowers in the wild! Glad you scrambled up and found these beauties!

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  11. Cristal..what lovely images and words! Please do tell me you let that inquisitive toddler down to explore these beauties! Thank you for making this keen effort! Smiles...Susan

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  12. Wow quite a hike with a toddler on your back. But you are right, it was worth the effort. These wildflowers are stunning. I just love the shooting stars.

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  13. Until this year of reading other blogs, I never realized how different the timing of the seasons was across Canada!

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  14. I really like the blog.I have shared your site with many friends and family. Photography Sales It is always a pleasure to read.

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