Harewood Plains
June 10th, 2012 | by Dave Ingram | Record a Comment
Published in
Botany, Flowers
Tags: British Columbia, Mimulus guttatus, Nanaimo, Plectritis congesta, Sea Blush, Vancouver Island, Wildflowers, Yellow Monkey-flower
While Harewood Plains is the location on Vancouver Island to see the rare red-listed bog birds-foot trefoil, the meadows are home to many other gorgeous flowers as well.
Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta) and Yellow Monkey-flower (Mimulus guttatus) dominate the wet meadows of Harewood Plains in late May and early June.
In late May/early June the common camas (Camassia quamash) is pretty much done. The expansive fields of blue that you would see in early spring are replaced by pink sea blush (Plectritis congesta) and yellow monkey-flower (Mimulus guttatus) at this time of year. If you look for it, you can still find patches of common camas in bloom, particularly in the shadier places near the edges of the meadows where the flowers are a bit later.
Common Camas (Camassia quamash) can still be found in isolated pockets in Harewood Plains, but the display peaks earlier in the spring.
What is overwhelming is the sea blush and the yellow monkey-flower. These two species dominate the wet seeps and meadows creating a wash of pink and yellow that must be experienced to be believed.
Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta) creates a wash of pink over the meadows at Harewood Plains.
The delightful Yellow monkey-flower (Mimulus guttatus) creates a nice contrast with the pink Sea Blush.
If you want to experience the full display at Harewood Meadows, do so soon. These spectacular flowers won’t last long!
