A hike is a great way to find wildflowers and I feel

like we found an abundance.
The flowers were growing in large groups and

it felt nice to see them growing in such freedom.
False Solomon's Seal was one of these plants, 

while not many were in flower yet there was an

abundance of them. Here is one I captured in flower.
On a side note, if you run into Stinging Nettles crush a

leaf of the False Solomon's Seal and use this to ease the sting!

I've loved this flower since a child in Alaska, bunchberry dogwood.

This is an important native plant, feeding many birds along with the Moose.

We can eat the berries as many people before us have done.

BUT DO NOT harvest the wild plants as the considered threatened in

many areas and they are not quick to propagate. While the plants

can survive some fires the seeds are slow to germinate.

They can live to be quite old with some known to be as old

as 36 years. A native species worth knowing.

On our hike to Heather Lake WA there were many

beautiful sites, many of them for me were wildflowers.

This obviously is a violet but which one I can't be sure.

One site calls it one thing and another site something

all together different. No matter to me, it's a lovely violet!

We went hiking yesterday in the Verlot WA area and

on the way back down I snapped this Fern.
I got lucky with this one don't ya think?
I don't know my Fern's so I cannot tell you

which one this is.

Today I'm a bit late with the post, we went hiking 

and I didn't plan ahead. I snapped this Rose Campion 

when we got home.

Comfrey, another plant full of contrasts.
It is quite helpful but also can be quite toxic.
Comfrey is an excellent source for making compost,

just don't eat it! You can eat plants grown in the compost

but you can't eat the comfrey itself.
Some of it's other name give you an idea of how 

it's been used in the past; 

Healing Herb, Bruisewort, Knitbone and Gum Plant

to name a few.  Comfrey contains allantoin,

"a cell proliferant that speeds up the natural replacement of body cells."

As with any plant that contains both healing and harmful

attributes, use caution.

The torch, red hot poker, torch lily or kniphofia.

Doesn't matter what you call it, I call it beautiful.

Some of our neighbors grow these in quite a neglected

manner and they are thriving. What more could

we want in a plant?

Today I thought I'd go for something different.

Yes it's from the garden but it isn't something I planned on!

What a Snapdragon! Amazing color!
It grows in a planter in Mukeltio, WA and
I'm fairly certain it grows there year round.
What a treat to see.

A most beautiful Peony planted in loving memory

of our dog Cocoa Pebbles. 

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Mock Orange!
Such a lovely fragrance from a shrub that comes

in varying heights and thrives on neglect and 

tolerates hot and cold and everything in-between.

When you drive along some of the more country roads you might 

see the giant flower and wonder what it is? Wonder no more!
Cow Parsnip is it's name and confusion is it's game.

While it's sap will blister your skin, the Native Americans used 

it in a poultice. In some states it is considered endangered while

in some areas it is considered invasive.
An interesting plant of contrasts don't you think?

A strawberry is quite delicious but don't you

agree that the flower can be quite beautiful?

Yes this is another Foxglove but this one just makes me laugh

and we could all use more laughter!

Yesterday I posted a peach-leaved bellflower in

blue, today is the white version. 

This is also a self-sower and it sows and sows!
Nice to have so much white in the garden though.

Peach-leaved Bellflower, a cute name

for a cute flower. This bellflower is a happy

self-seeder which for me is a great thing.

It starts flowering in late spring and lasts through

much of my summer especially if I dead-head it.

When I first started to put in flower beds in our home this
Delphinium was one of the first plants to go in.

Such a pretty flower and so easy to grow; plant it, water it

the first summer and then watch it reward you with it's beauty.

Earlier this week I showed you the buds of this flower.
The blooms are stunning aren't they.

Black Lace Elderberry

Pink Yarrow is almost like growing a weed, 

it's that easy!

Something interesting is that it can show up as 

 different color (white) and 

then revert back to pink just as easily.

We've had many rainy days recently so I feel

fortunate to have been able to get this picture. 

There were raindrops all over the place and this

Foxglove looks like it was drinking it up.

Since I was a child I've been fascinated by the dogwood.
As a child though I was only familiar with the

 shorter version the bunchberry.

 When I found it in tree form it was

love at first site, such a beautiful tree.

Black Lace Sambucus (elderberry) is getting

ready to flower. Love the dark purply against the
green from below it.

A begonia is such an elegant flower, it makes

the gardener look good!

I couldn't resist sharing this Lupine with you,
such an interesting variation.

The allium is almost done but still quite pretty.

The pretty bells next to it are a nice combo.

A house down our road was going to be torn down,

Condos would soon take it's place. 

This honeysuckle was growing on the gate.
I had to bring a stem home in hopes of saving it.
Loving this honeysuckle.

There has been so much rain lately that the mulch
in the new path is sprouting!

Do you see yesterday's oddball?
The only thing I would change about Lupine is a longer flowering season.

What an oddball Lupine. It is growing next to yesterday's Lupine,
it just grows to the beat of a different drum.