It has been a while since I’ve visited the Comox Lake Bluffs Ecological Reserve but this spring I had a chance to return to catch and photograph the early April bloom. It was truly spectacular and well worth the short hike. Wildflowers on the steep mossy slopes above Comox Lake. Approaching the steep slopes of the bluffs of the ecological …
Plectritis congesta
Comox Lake Bluffs Ecological Reserve
There is nothing at the parking area just beyond the dam at Comox Lake to suggest that a spectacular ecological reserve is a short 20 minute hike away. Beyond the burned rubbish and twisted metal and broken glass is a wide gravel trail that leads through an old cut block. The trail at this point has been “deactivated” in an attempt …
Harewood Plains
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 …
At First Blush
The beautiful pink flowers of Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta). Earlier this week I headed out to Woodhus Slough to do some birdwatching and ended up botanizing instead. The slough provides access to a number of different kinds of habitats, and thus different plant communities. This week, the gravel dyke that separates the slough from the ocean was in full bloom. …