By the end of June the vegetable garden is full of spring vegetables, berries are ready to eat, and fruit is ripening on the trees. Summer vegetables are coming along nicely, but not quite ready yet. Shrubs and vines have … Continue reading →
I drove the bumpy backroads to Badger Lake then paddled the lake. Yellow water lilies were blooming on the back lagoons of Spooney Lake. On the drive back, I drove down the Orchard Lake Road and made several stops to … Continue reading →
On a hike on the south-facing slopes of Jag Hill (the southeastern end of Red Plateau) the open forest was dry, but a few late-spring wildflowers and flowering shrubs were observed on a route up the steep and rocky route. … Continue reading →
We hiked a longer route up over Opax Mountain and out to the bluffs overlooking Tranquille Canyon, then down a south-facing ridge to the bottom of Hanging Valley, then back uo to Lac du Bois, a 16+ km route on … Continue reading →
After paddling Paska Lake, I took a short nature walk in the open forest at 1450 m. There were many jacob’s ladder in bloom on the gravelly soils in open areas, but I also spotted lupines, paintbrush, shrubby penstemon, cutleaf … Continue reading →
We hiked to the top of the hill in Buse Protected Area, taking our time, and enjoying the wildflowers and pollinators. The open grassland hills had a number of flowering plants like sticky geranium (Geranium viscosissimum), lemonweed (Lithospremum ruderale), lupines … Continue reading →
I paddled Pass Lake, then came down to the Upper Grasslands for a wildflower walk. There were chocolate lilies (Fritillaria lanceolata), upland larkspur (Delphinium nuttialanum), arnica (Arnica cordifolia), the first blooms of sticky geranium (Geranium viscosissimum), star-flowered false solomon’s-seal (Smilacena … Continue reading →
On a hike out to the west end of Mt. Dufferin, I stopped along the way to observe and photograph the flora on this dry, south-facing sloped area. All photos by the author. Can you name some of the flowers? … Continue reading →
Every year near the end of May we drive west to witness local bitterroot (Lewisia redviva) in bloom. It can be found at various locations between Cache Creek and Spences Bridge, usually above the highway in the hills on southwest-facing … Continue reading →
We hiked on the Greenstone Mountain Trails on a hot and smoky morning. The route was across the grassland – open forest zone, through a burn area, then through the forest. Along the way we stopped to enjoy some of … Continue reading →
We hiked Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island at the end of April and enjoyed the park and the many wildflowers of spring. One of the plants that was in flower was slender toothwort (Cardamine nutiallii). It is a … Continue reading →
Over several hikes in the Lac du Bois grasslands we have stopped to admire emerging wildflowers. Featured here are shooting stars (Dodecathoen pulchellum sp.), sagebrush buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus), and western saxifrage (Micranthes occidentalis). All photos by the author. Click an … Continue reading →