Hunting Fawn Lilies

One of the things that has brought me much joy lately is watching the variety of wildflowers popping up on our new property. We have a mixed woodland of Madrone, Incense Cedar, Black Oak, Ponderosa Pine, and Douglas Fir, and underneath on the forest floor, almost everywhere you step, native flowers are beginning to bloom.

Buttercups

 

Shooting Stars

So I've been busy rekindling an old passion - one quite dear to my heart. Some years ago I started and ran a native plant nursery, where I grew and sold plants, trees, and flowers native to this region of the west. On the cover of my catalog was a line drawing of a favorite wildflower - a fawn lily, which sports a precious bloom sprouting up between two spotted leaves.

So imagine my delight when I noticed tiny spotted leaves popping up beneath our trees. I've been busy marking the ones in this lawn area with little orange flags, so that someone else in this family *cough* does not mistake them for a weed, and "accidentally" mow or spray them.

I've been patiently waiting for these fawn lilies to bloom. The ones that I've seen before are white - a common variety. And some, called glacier lilies, are yellow. But oh, my goodness, the ones we have on our property are - PINK!

They are Henderson's Fawn Lily - Erythronium Hendersonii - and while not exactly rare, only grow in a rather small geographical area. Pink Fawn Lilies! Right here in my yard! Honestly, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I noticed this bloom.

So if you don't see me much, it's because I'm out communing with wildflowers. I have rekindled an old love of mine - for native plants of every kind.

Tell me - are wildflowers popping up where you live?

Have any favorites?