Possibly the looniest native columbine there is: Golden columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha). Those ridiculously long spurs make the flowers look like little spaceships.
This columbine is found in the US southwest from Arizona to Texas, as well as in northwestern Mexico. While the Pacific Northwest has its own native yellow columbine (A. flavescens), its flowers are nowhere near as spectacular.
Mystery Dogwood. A shrub I collected locally, it's either Gray Dogwood or Roughleaf Dogwood (or a natural hybrid). It's been hard to positively identify this shrub!
It's filling a gap in the row of non-native lilacs.
#DeathCamas - all parts of plant are #toxic & shouldn't be handled. Only bee that can tolerate its toxins is the specialist mining bee. Toxic to animals, especially sheep. Humans have been poisoned after ingesting bulbs; kids have been poisoned after ingesting flowers & flower buds.
This is a solitary bee just starting its life. It visits these last Phacelia blooms over & over. Eventually, the bee will move over to other flower varieties that are coming on strong.
Diversity in plants & habitats makes the difference on this small scale. Native bees forage over hundreds of yards-not miles like honey bees.
The bright orange trumpets of the orange honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa) glow in the leafy understory of Ravenna Park, Seattle, Washington. This pretty native is one of many that are making a comeback thanks to parkland restoration/rewilding efforts throughout the state. #Photography#NativePlants#PNW#SeattleWashington
It’s been a rough week but the beauty I find in my gardens always brings me peace. The columbine and trillium are especially lovely right now. #bloomscrolling#nativeplants
You can do something: Garden for wildlife! If you own land, manage it as habitat. Add and grow lots of plants native to your area, which will feed birds and their babies. If you are anywhere near semi-natural areas, the land will heal itself over time, if you let it.
Another local native plant portrait with code. This time of Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). I left it a bit expressively weird, because... personality.
(1/2) I bought a teeny tiny watercolor palette & filled it with 6 colors (CMYK + one extra color) from which I can create millions of colors! Here’s my palette in hand. You can read more on my latest blog post
I think I should make a little series of botanical sketches (in my chosen medium of code, of course) of local native plants. Maybe I'll set them into a pattern later.
Strongly considering collecting seeds and planting these around trees as revenge on squirrels for digging up seedlings and stealing fruit. 😈… 🐿️🐿️🐿️😱☠️