Tag Archives: spring meadow

bulbs, garden visits, months 04-06: spring, natives

Camas Identification

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Uplands Park Camas meadow, garden Victoria BC, Pacific North West
photo by SVSeekins

This spring, the camas meadows are a delight.  Uplands Park is exceptionally beautiful.
(Who knew the park is more than Willows Beach & a boat launch?!?
It’s so much larger than that.)

An evening walk with the native plant enthusiasts of Friends of Uplands Park was fun AND educational.

Common Camas vs Great Camas

another camas meadow in Uplands Park, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins
  •  Common Camas flowers first, sometimes starting as early as March in the Pacific Northwest.
    Great  Camas follows a few weeks later, peaking in May.  The whole show is usually over by June.

    Great Camas along Uplands Park path, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
    photo by SVSeekins
  • Common Camas is shorter & sticks to meadows in full sun.
    Great  Camas is taller & likes the meadows too, but also tolerates the partial shade along woodland paths. (see photo right)
    (Ergo the only camas to survive in our day-lily beds are the Great Camas)  

    common camas after bloom, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
    Common Camas
    photo by SVSeekins
  •  The Common Camas bloom opens quickly, with most of the spike in full flower all at one time.
    The Great  Camas bloom opens gradually from bottom to top. Sometimes the flowers at the bottom of the spike are finishing while the very top is yet to begin.

    common camas after bloom
    Great Camas photo by SVSeekins
  • A funky way to tell the two apart is with the withering bloom.   The  Common Camas flower petals die back willy-nilly. (see photo above)
    The Great Camas flowers die back gracefully, with the petals wrapping themselves into a hug.  (see photo right)

    a white camas - not a death camas, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
    photo by SVSeekins
  • A white camas flower is usually just an albino version of an ordinary camas.  Some say the same bulb will often produce a regular flower, but some years it’ll throw an abnormal one.  Unusual but not dangerous.

    Death Camas in Uplands Park, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
    photo by SVSeekins
  • Death Camas is dangerous.  It has a white flower too but looks quite different.  After the blooms are gone, it’s pretty tough to tell the types apart from just the foliage.  Indigenous people used camas as a food source, but they were very wary of the Death Camas.  It makes sense that they harvested while the plants were in bloom.  I’m told it’s toxic to the touch …. so hands off!

That certainly calls a halt to the romantic sunset stroll, doesn’t it?  It’s all pixies & fairy dust until someone is poisoned…
Hmmm, that kinda sounds like the setting for a murder mystery.  What do you think?  Would you read that book?

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Other places to see Camas Meadows:

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attracting birds, bulbs, drought tolerant, months 04-06: spring, natives

Mt. Tolmie’s Camas in Bloom

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camas blooms cu garry oak meadow garden Victoria BC
photo by SVSeekins

It was well worth the half hour walk up the neighborhood trails into Mt. Tolmie Park this morning.  What a sight – – the camas is in bloom!

I like garry oak meadows.  They’re especially inspiring when colored with a sea of blue.  Spring is really here.

early camas bloom Mt. Tolmie, garry oak meadow, garden Victoria BC
photo by SVSeekins

Who would expect wilderness just a short 5km from Victoria’s inner harbour?

Checking out the wildflowers in April & May is at the top of my list for reasons to be a tourist in Victoria.

early camas bloom Mt. Tolmie, gary oak meadow, garden Victoria BC
photo by SVSeekins

AND if you’re fortunate enough to be around during the last saturday of April, it’s worthwhile checking out Camas Day in Beacon Hill Park.  Its hosted by Friends of Beacon Hill Park & has wildflower tours & speakers.   🙂

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Other places to see Camas Meadows:

bulbs, drought tolerant, garden visits, months 04-06: spring, urban deer

Meadow Blooms 5 – Camas

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The camas meadow swaying in the spring breeze is like no other.  Suddenly I’m walking in a fairytale instead of strolling in a Victoria park.  Has my mind gone wild?  Could I ever have come up with a dream so lovely?  No.  It must be real.

No gardener created this scene, either.  This is Nature’s beauty.

Camas Meadow - Beacon Hill Park 3
photo by SVSeekins
camas at Mt. Tolmie Park 2
photo by SVSeekins

Camas meadows have flourished on South Vancouver Island longer than memory reaches into the past.  The southern slope of Beacon Hill has been a camas meadow for centuries.  It’s probably one of the key reasons it’s preserved as a park today.  The same goes for the Garry oak meadows of Mt. Tolmie Park.  At this time of year, they’re magical places.

Early peoples saw more than beauty in the camas; they saw food.  I wonder who it was to first realize the bulbs are delicious?

Camas at Mt. Tolmie Park 1
photo by SVSeekins

Perhaps she had gardening tendencies like mine; seeing a lovely flower automatically triggers an urge to have that flower in my own garden.  (I’m known to dig up plants from roadsides.)

Before we moved from the Cedar Hill property to the Richmond house, I dug up as many camas as possible.  The Garry oak meadow in the backyard was a great natural source for them, but the digging wasn’t so easy.

When I was able to dig deep enough, I often found the bulb tucked securely in a tight rocky crevice.  Un-obtainable! I did manage to get a good number of bulbs (perhaps 2 dozen), but there was no risk of over-harvesting that hillside.

camas blooms cu
photo by SVSeekins

There was certainly more risk of starvation if camas had been my only sustenance.   A good deal of effort for a very small reward.  That gardener from long ago must’ve had more ingenuity than I have.

Apparently, she figured out a method that includes burning the meadow first. (?!?!…)  Perhaps that was a way of cooking the camas in the process? By the time she got one out of the ground, it was already transformed into a sweet treat?  I just can’t figure it….

Happily, after all my sweat equity, I now enjoy blooming borders.

  • snowdrops in January… 
  • crocus in February… 
  • daffodils in March… 
  • hyacinth in April… 
  • and camas in May… 

It times out nicely.  When the foliage of the spring bulb dies back, the daylily takes over for the summer.  And from all that bounty, it’s only the latter that the deer like to feast on.  🙂

a bit of history on camas
a camas recipe
growing camas

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© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013

Camas Meadow - Beacon Hill Park 1
photo by SVSeekins