Last Friday I had a chance to take a walk around Pipers Lagoon Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia. This small park includes a mixed Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) and Arbutus (Arbutus menziesii) meadow with associated plants. It looks like it could be a fascinating place to spend some time botanizing a little later in the spring. The twisted branches of …
Garry Oak
Pipers Lagoon Park
I was in Nanaimo this Friday and decided to take the “scenic route” through the suburbs along Hammond Bay Road when heading back up-Island. This area of Nanaimo is heavily developed, but fortunately there is a small city park that makes the drive worthwhile. Pipers Lagoon Park is about 8 hectares in size and includes some wonderful Garry Oak (Quercus …
Born of Fire
Guest Post by Vijay Somalinga Last summer I was having a conversation with a friend about the native flora of British Columbia. I was quite disappointed when I learned that most of the the flower pictures I had taken that summer turned out to be invasive and non-native species. It was during this conversation that for the first time I …
Notch Hill
Jocie and I had a rare day without the kids and took full advantage of being able to explore an area that we haven’t visited before. After dropping the kids off at day care we packed a couple of water bottles, some lunch and headed south towards Nanoose Bay. The weather was definitely iffy and we thought that perhaps we …
Spring Flowers at Mount Douglas
A small group of Chickweed Monkey-flower (Mimulus alsinoides) growing in a vernal seep. The vantage point of the top of Mount Douglas in Saanich offers a spectacular 360o view of rural Saanich, downtown Victoria, and the Olympic Mountains across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington state. However, it is worth turning one’s eyes from the striking vista and …