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End of April in the Back Yard Gardens

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-05-03 by D. Smith2025-05-03

The vegetable gardens are planted with spring crops and many seedlings are now showing.    A second planting is planned for around Victoria Day.    We have the promise of spinach and peas soon.   In the flower beds and borders, perennials are recovering from the winter dormancy and a few have started to flower.   Some of the bordering flowering shrubs … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Walks | Leave a reply

Stein Valley Nature Hike

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-29 by D. Smith2025-05-03
red-flowering currant

We traveled southwest to Lytton, then crossed the Fraser River on the reaction ferry to the West Side Road.  We continued north, then west into Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park.   We hiked up the Stein River Trail, spending about 3.5 hours on the trail for an out-and-back hike, and some exploration time in the valley.    The day was sunny … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature Hikes | Tagged Lytton, Stein River | Leave a reply

Shooting Stars

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-25 by D. Smith2025-04-23

Few-flowered shooting stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum sp. now Dodacatheon pauciflora) are native perennial wildflowers in the primrose family (Primulaceae) that bloom in April and May in our area.    From fibrous root stocks, leafless stems grow up to 40 cm.    A rosette of mostly glabrous lanceolate leaves taper off below the inflorescence. The purple to lavender flowers are complex, but … Continue reading →

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Barnes Lake Trails Nature Hike

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-22 by D. Smith2025-04-21

On a sunny mid-April day we hiked the Barnes Lake horse-and-hiker-trails (9.25 km) through sagebrush grasslands and open douglas fir forest.    This was a group hike so there was little time to stop and examine various wildflowers along the way, but I took some photos and they are shared here. Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia) were just starting to bloom at … Continue reading →

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Fifty Foot Raised Bed

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-21 by D. Smith2025-04-15
thyme

A late-winter and early spring project is now in the final stages.    My back yard was a gravel slope down to the street below and over the years I have hauled in concrete blocks to build three retaining walls for 3 garden levels.    Each build was a little better, using the right kind of blocks, backfilling with porous … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Works | 1 Reply

Neskonlith Meadows Nature Walk

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-17 by D. Smith2025-04-15

After paddling Little Shuswap Lake, I drove up the road to Neskonlith Lake and stopped to enjoy the wildflowers by the roadside.    To hike the meadows, we need to get a permit from the Band Office, and this is planned for later this month.   This last visit was really a scouting trip (a walk by the road) to see … Continue reading →

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Lemonweed

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-14 by D. Smith2025-04-17

Lemonweed or Stoneseed (Lithospermum ruderale) is a spring-flowering perennial found in the dry grasslands and open forests at lower elevations.   From a woody taproot, several hairy stems grow up to 1 – 1.5 m.   Lanceolate or linear leaves grow alternately up the stems.    The inflorescence has clusters of small yellow flowers, with a pale yellow corolla and petals fused … Continue reading →

Posted in Wildflowers | Tagged western stoneseed | Leave a reply

Peterson Creek Nature Hike

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-08 by D. Smith2025-04-06

We hiked at an easy pace on a mild day for about an hour on the Peterson Creek Trails.   We were surprised by a few wildflowers emerging along the trails.    We spotted arrow-leaved balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), small-flowered woodland star (Lithophragma parviflorum), dame’s-rocket (Hesperis sp.) – a species of mustard, lemonweed/stoneseed (Lithospermum ruderale), and one of the rockcresses (Boechera sp.). … Continue reading →

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Field Chickweed

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-06 by D. Smith2025-04-03

Field chickweed (Cerastium arvense) is a mat-forming perennial in the pinks (Caryophyllaceae) family found in many areas of our region.   Slender stems grow from rhizomes.    Narrow hairy leaves and slender hairy stems may rise to 40 cm.   Chickweed is quite variable, but we usually see a single white flower or a cluster of several flowers, with 5 white notched … Continue reading →

Posted in Wildflowers | Tagged Cerastium | Leave a reply

Early Spring Flowers in the Garden

Wildflower Journal Posted on 2025-04-02 by D. Smith2025-04-02

When we hiked the trails around the area in late March, we saw the first appearances of sagebrush buttercups and yellow bells.   At the same time, early spring flowers started to bloom in our home garden.   Most of these were bulbs we planted some years ago.    The first leaves poke up in the third week of March and in … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Flora | Tagged allium, crocus, hyacinth | 1 Reply

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