Prairie Wildflowers

Yarrow: Common white wildflower that's also pink

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 23:37:00 +0000

Yarrow, in a soft shade of pink. © SB

I've seen Yarrow often, and think of it as an interesting white prairie wildflower. But this summer, I stumbled (yes, literally... the ground was riddled with gopher holes) onto Yarrow that flowered pink!

And a soft, delicate pink, too. A faint blush or wash of colour — but enough to be clearly noticeable.

The just-opening flowers seemed to be a darker shade of pink, which made me wonder if these I'd photographed fully open would perhaps fade even paler with age.

I found these plants in the Frenchman River campground at Grasslands National Park. (And yes, there were white Yarrow plants growing there, too.)

Pink Yarrow, with its flower head comprised on many small flowers © SB

Pink Yarrow, just coming into bloom. (No trickery - colour balance as shot.) © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Yarrow

Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: June 13, 2016

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Western Wild Bergamot: frilly pink prairie flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 22:56:00 +0000

Western Wild Bergamot. © SB

Western Bergamot plants have dramatic pink flowers — large ones that are impossible to miss, though from the reactions of my companions the day I took these photographs, apparently quite easy to ignore.

These rose-coloured flowers have been compared to fireworks — a lovely image that accompanies their description on the Minnesota wildflower site.

(Yes, I'm happy to say that we in Saskatchewan share Western Bergamot, or Monarda fistulosa, with a large swath of North America.)

Apparently it grows well in gardens, too...

Note to self: Find seeds, for next year.

Western Wild Bergamot, growing in Regina, SK © SB

Single flower head, Western Wild Bergamot.
Note the flowers beginning to bloom in the cluster, and the serrated leaves. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Western Wild Bergamot

Location: Wildflower garden, First Nations University of Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan

Photo Date: July 12, 2016

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Goat's-Beard: Pretty, introduced, and gloriously puffy

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 03:49:00 +0000

Yes, Goat’s-Beard may be an introduced wildflower on the Prairies, but I remain fascinated by its lovely symmetry in both the lemony-yellow flower phase, and the super-duper, oversized seedhead phase.

To me, it's the super-sized seedhead of Goat's-beard that makes it so lovely. © SB

The flower - a light, bright yellow - is also attractive, in its own way. © SB

Yellow on black - a trick of light with Goat's-beard. © SB

Another view of Goat's-beard, in ready-to-blow-wild seed stage. © SB

What is this: Goat’s-Beard, an introduced plant. (Western Salsify, Tragopogon dubius)
Location: Many places around Southern Saskatchewan.
Photo Dates: June 24, 2015 (seedheads); June 10 and June 14, 2016 (flowers).

Nodding Beggarticks - odd name, pretty wetlands wildflower

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 16:07:00 +0000

And now, a wildflower that has found a place to establish itself in the city of Regina, SK — Nodding Beggarticks, growing in a marshy spot along a local lake. (And, fortunately, still in its flower form, so no worries yet about its barbed seeds...)

A close-up of a single Nodding Beggarticks flower. © SB

Nodding Beggarticks. The flowers tend to droop and nod as they age, hence the name. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Nodding Beggarticks

Location: Lakeridge Park, Regina, Saskatchewan

Photo Date: September 10, 2016

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Purple Prairie-Clover at the top of a Saskatchewan butte

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 22:52:00 +0000

A cluster of Purple Prairie-Clover. © SB

Today, Purple Prairie-Clover.

We drove south through the West Block of Grasslands National Park, along the Ecotour Road and across ranch land until we reached the point furthest south, the lookout over the valley towards the U.S. where the parks people have planted two of their infamous red chairs.

Near the top of that butte, the road twisted and split around a small meadow of wildflowers and a teepee ring, and we found Purple Prairie-Clover in bloom.

Several of these Prairie-Clover plants had red stems; several had green. The flowers and leaves looked identical, though, so I don't know what the difference in stem colouration means.

I'm glad we made the trek up that hill. Lovely view — and flowers.

Not a single Prairie-Clover Flower... These compound flowers, so these are many © SB

A stand of Purple Prairie-Clover. This plant had red stems. © SB

Purple Prairie-Clover just beginning to flower. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Purple Prairie-Clover

Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: July 25, 2016

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Silverleaf Psoralea: What's not to love about blue blooms?

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 17:56:00 +0000

Silverleaf Psoralea, Grasslands National Park. © SB

Few flowers are blue, which may explain my love for Silverleaf Psoralea's lovely bright blue (and sometimes purplish) flowers.

These native wildflowers are common — but also unusual in my experience, as I've only seen them in places where the land is unbroken prairie, with its rich array of growth. (And, as I live in a city, those aren't my usual surroundings.)

The flowers are small and bristle with hairs on the undersides, which look like the sepals or calyx to me, with my very faint recollections of high school botany... And the silvery leaves are also fairly hairy.

Silverleaf Psoralea grows in colonies, and the plants are quite conspicuous, with their dark flowers and pale leaves. These plants go by a range of names, including Silver-leaf Scurf-pea, which — while a much less musical name — clearly IDs the flowers as being pea-flower-shaped.

Closer view of hairy and blue Silverleaf Psoralea, Grasslands National Park. © SB

Sturdy stalk of Silverleaf Psoralea, Grasslands National Park. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Silverleaf Psoralea
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: July 25, 2016

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Scarlet Mallow: Beauty with dirt, sticks and flies

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 22:22:00 +0000

Because beauty isn't restrained and contained in manicured gardens, but sometimes shows up in the midst of the dirt, sticks and flies, a couple of photos of Scarlet Mallow, from Grasslands National Park this summer.

Yes, this is the beauty-with-flies shot - Scarlet Mallow. © SB

And this, the beauty-with-dry-sticks in the dirt. © SB

Scarlet Mallow is a tricky flower to photograph, because it blooms so brilliantly in full sun... But full sun is not kind to either its bright orange petals, or its soft gray-green leaves. The trick is to wait for cloud cover — but who wants that in the park? This trip, I brought a white umbrella, a trick my piano teacher shared... Not bad, apart from then having to correct for excessive shade... At least the light is even!

Prairie Wildflower: Scarlet Mallow.
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo Date: June 13, 2016.

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Rabbitbrush in bloom in Grasslands National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 20:12:00 +0000

Stalk of Rabbitbrush, with flowers. © SB

Time for a late summer hit of yellow, with the Rabbitbrush that blooms in late summer.

We saw an early stand in a very dry, sunny area, south of the West Block of Grasslands National Park, aka, the Badlands.

Rabbitbrush, or Rubber Rabbitbrush it's also called, stands out not only because of its late flowering, but also its pale whitish stems, narrow furry leaves, and woody base that seems disproportionately large.

Tough to see, until you get down on hands and knees, but each flower head within the densely packed yellows clusters is actually comprised of five tiny tubular, star-tipped flowers.

(No, I didn't count — and yes, in my pix, this is less than obvious, but I read it on the USDA Forest Service wildflower site, linked above.)

Rabbitbrush in the Badlands, Grasslands National Park.
(This was the only Rabbitbush plant in bloom, although we saw several others in the area.) © SB

Closer view of the Rabbitbrush flowers. Vibrant yellow! © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Rabbitbrush
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: July 25, 2016

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Cut-leaved Anemone: Small crimson wildflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 22:42:00 +0000

Bright crimson flower of the Cut-leaved Anemone © SB

A few years ago, I found a few Cut-leaved Anemone plants growing in a stretch of wildflowers along a railway track through a small Saskatchewan town.

Every time I've visited there in summer since, I've walked that route to see what's in flower, and in early July, have always been happy to find more small, crimson Cut-leaved Anemone flowers.

The tiny flowers are a vibrant contrast to the downy white Cut-leaved Anemone seed heads, which I first photographed in the glowing light of sunrise and sunset, several years ago in the Cypress Hills.

And, like many wildflowers, these are small.

Not showy flowers that call your attention, but ones that whisper to you to slow down, to watch for what else you might be missing if you continue rushing by.

Seedheads and paler pink Cut-leaved Anemone flowers. © SB

Cut-leaved Anemone flower, also showing the leaves © SB

Seed head and seeds, Cut-leaved Anemone © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Cut-leaved Anemone

Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: Top two: July 6, 2014; bottom two: July 6, 2015.

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Lilac-flowered Beardtongue: Delicate and new

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 23:22:00 +0000

Lilac-flowered Beardtongue is a delicate wildflower that's new to me — though as a native plant, it's far from new to the land it grows on. This summer, I found a small stand of these plants at Grasslands National Park, and was happy to add one more Beardtongue to my list.

Lilac-flowered Beardtongue,
with its yellow bearded tongue. © SB

Lilac-flowered Beardtongue © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Lilac-flowered Beardtongue
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: June 13, 2016

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Woolly Plantain: Look carefully, or you'll miss it

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 22:41:00 +0000

Woolly Plantain flowers fall into the class of teeny blooms that you will miss if you blink or sneeze (for those of us with hay fever) as you walk by. But look closely, and those feathery stalks are tipped with clearly defined flowers.

A stalk of Woolly Plantain flowers.
From a distance, white fuzz. Up close, delicate wild flowers. © SB

But don't trust your eyes...

There may be flowers where you don't see them at first — and what looks real, may not belong.

(Like those lovely rosettes of leaves, below... They do not form the base of these two stalks of Woolly Plantain. The pairs of slim, elongated leaves beside the stalks belong to the Woolly Plantain, instead. But the symmetry was so lovely, I couldn't resist this shot.)

Woolly Plantain, Grasslands National Park.
(The rosettes are not the leaves - the two pairs of thin leaves belong, instead.) © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Woolly Plantain, or Pursh's Plantain
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: June 14, 2016

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White Beardtongue: Delicate spring prairie flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 20:48:00 +0000

In the eerie light of afternoon, before a major prairie storm rolled through, I set out to find prairie wildflowers and found White Beardtongue at the edge of our Grasslands National Park campground.

Close-up of White Beardtongue © SB

Stalk of White Beardtongue flowers © SB

Despite the efforts of the mowers — who were likely hoping to keep mosquitoes and other bugs in check — several stands of wildflowers blossomed on the hill and along the fence lines, far off from our tent.

Prairie Wildflower: White Beardtongue
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: June 13, 2016

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Bessey's Locoweed: Low growing with bright pink flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 15:31:00 +0000

Bessey's Locoweed has distinctively bright pink flowers — glaringly bright when seen in the harsh sunlight of the dry, gravelly bluffs where it grows.

Bessey's Locoweed in flower at Grasslands National Park. © SB

I've photographed this attractive, low — and to me, uncommon — wildflower several times in Grasslands National Park, where it can easily be found on 70 Mile Butte and along the edge of the cliffs at the start of the Ecotour Drive. This member of the pea family can also look slightly gray or silvery, because of the hairs on its leaves — er, leaflets.

Another view of Bessey's Locoweed. © SB

Bessey's Locoweed - fresh pink and dying purple flowers. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Bessey's Locoweed
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Dates: June 25, 2013; June 23, 2012.

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Scarlet Gaura: Delicate pink flowers, pale leaves

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 22:38:00 +0000

Scarlet Gaura at Grasslands National Park. © SB

Tufts of Scarlet Gaura grew around our site when we tented recently in Grasslands National Park. None of the tiny red, pink and white flowers were visible, though. The park lawnmowers had taken care of that, and all that remained was a gray-green ground cover.

But uncut native prairie grasses and plants blossom on the hill above and around the edges of the Frenchman River Campground, and there I found Scarlet Gaura in full bloom.

(At least, that's one of this delicate flower's many names, which include Scarlet Beeblossom.)

I first started looking for wildflowers earlier in the day, and the first Scarlet Gaura I saw was far from scarlet. Instead of orange or red, the flowers were very pale pink.

Almost white, in fact, which is how these flowers first appear, before gradually darkening during the day.

The flowers I found that evening were much brighter — and the light was a lovely gold.

Pale early Scarlet Gaura flowers. © SB

Bright orange-red evening Scarlet Gaura flowers.

Close-up view of a tiny Scarlet Gaura flower. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Scarlet Gaura
Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Dates: June 13, 2016.

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Canada Anemone: White native shade wildflower

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 00:06:00 +0000

Large flowers along the road or hidden in the trees surprise me, so when I saw Canada Anemones growing in a ditch and at the edge of a damp woodland, I wondered at first if they'd been planted there. And who knows where these particular plants came from — but, as befits its name, the Canada Anemone is a native plant.

Canada Anemone flower, seen from above. © SB

Dense cluster of Canada Anemone plants. © SB

Canada Anemone flowers. © SB

These plants tend to grow in large clusters, and didn't seem affected by even the dirt and grit of nearby grid roads.

Prairie Wildflower: Canada Anemone
Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Dates: July 4, 2015; July 6 and 21, 2014.

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Yellow Clover: Tall yellow roadside wildflower

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 21:12:00 +0000

Yellow Clover, or Yellow Sweet-Clover, is a common flower that waves in the breeze along gravel grids and highways in Saskatchewan. Although it grows wild, it's not a native plant, and when first introduced, it was considered a weed. Now, Yellow Clover may be grown as a forage crop. It also spreads in waste land and along road allowances.

Yellow Sweet-Clover. © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Yellow Clover
Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada
Photo Date: July 14 and 16, 2014

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Pink Alsike Clover - Pink and White

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Tue, 31 May 2016 23:58:00 +0000

Today, a close-up of Alsike Clover. (Who knew there were so many different Clovers?)

Alsike Clover flowers. © SB

Alsike Clover, showing leaves and growth pattern © SB

Alsike can be identified by its smooth, plain green, serrated leaves, its often white-tinged flowers, and the position of the flowers at axillary points throughout the plant. This small, introduced wildflower can also be toxic to animals.

Prairie Wildflower: Alsike Clover
Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada

Photo Date: July 6, 2015

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Red Clover - a Naturalized Prairie Wildflower

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Tue, 24 May 2016 23:45:00 +0000

Because this blog needs more pink, a Red Clover flower:

And yes, I know Red Clover is not a native plant in the Canadian Prairies, but it has lived here long enough to spread out and become a fairly common wildflower — and, when you look closely at the tiny compound flowers, they are very pretty.

Red Clover is a legume, and can be identified by the white V-shape on its non-serrated hairy leaves, and the terminal, or top, position of its pinkish-purple flowers.

Prairie Wildflower: Red Clover
Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada

Photo Date: July 6, 2015

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Purple Milkvetch: Tiny purple-blue pea-like flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Fri, 20 May 2016 23:35:00 +0000

Purple milkvetch is a widely distributed North American wildflower that under the right (or perhaps, wrong) conditions might be seen as a ground cover or a weed. But how pretty its new spring flowers are!

I found a patch growing in Wascana Park recently, one of the first spring flowers I've seen locally this year. (And no, I have not been out much, or yes, I know I'd see more...)

Most of the Purple Milkvetch plants in this patch were tufted and all were low-growing. I am so glad I got there before the mowers arrived!

Prairie Wildflower: Purple Milkvetch

Location: Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo Date: May 19, 2016

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Senecaroot: Pink-purple grassland and forest wildflower

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Mon, 16 May 2016 22:07:00 +0000

The pinkish-purple flowers of Senecaroot were a mystery to me at first, because most of the sources I checked showed these round clusters to be white or green.

But the stalks I photographed near Muenster, Saskatchewan, had a dark and distinct rosy hue — a colour I finally saw matched and mentioned in Royer-Dickinson's Plants of Alberta.

In R-D's book, this plant's name is spelled as one word: Senecaroot, so that's the way I'm using it here, although I've also seen it as two words, Seneca Root, and with variants in spelling, such as Senega Root, which makes some sense as formal name is Polygala senega.

The name is said to honour the Seneca people, who used it to heal snakebites, perhaps because of the root's resemblance to a snake — leading to its other names, Seneca Snakeroot and Rattlesnake Root. Wikipedia says the root was exported and marketed to Europe for use in pneumonia treatments, and it is still used in herbal remedies.

Senecaroot, a member of the Milkwort family, is found in moist grasslands and open forests. It's a native North America plant, apparently widely spread across Canada.

Some of the Senecaroot plants I found two summers ago were in a moist dip (some might call it a ditch) at the edge of a road, near a stream. Others were along the edge of a wooded area, in a patch of fertile soil with a range of other flowers — also near a drainage area. (Both pictured here were in the former location.)

Prairie Wildflower: Senecaroot, or Seneca Root

Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan.
Photo Dates: July 14, 2014

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Giant Hyssop: Spikes with clusters of purple blue flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Sun, 08 May 2016 19:54:00 +0000

Dense clusters of purple-blue, tubular flowers grow on spikes of Giant Hyssop, a wildflower much loved by bees. Like all members of the mint family, Giant Hyssop has a square stem; it also has a slight anise scent.

And yes, these photos were taken a while ago... I've been going through my files.

Prairie Wildflower: Giant Hyssop.
Location: Native Plant Garden, Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

Photo Dates: July 12 and 13, 2012.

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Early Cinquefoil: Prairie flower in the Bow Valley

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 22:37:00 +0000

At the top of a dry, sandy moraine in the Bow Valley, we saw bright yellow Early Cinquefoil in bloom.

These low, short-stemmed wildflowers are native to the dry, open prairie, and belong to the Rose family.

The species name, concinna, means "elegant and well-behaved," a reference to this small plant's neat appearance, Royer and Dickinson say in Plants of Alberta.

We looked for more along the trail, but only found a few Early Cinquefoil plants at the top of one sunny hill.

Prairie Wildflower: Early Cinquefoil
Location: Moraine Trail, Bow Valley Provincial Park, Alberta.
Photo Date: April 13, 2016

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Hooker's Townsendia - Low White Townsend Daisies

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 19:01:00 +0000

Hooker's Townsendia, a cushion of low white flowers on grey-furred leaves, grows on dry prairie grasslands and eroded slopes.

I was surprised to find a few blooming on a sun-drenched hillside in April in Banff National Park, near the helpfully illustrated sign, labelled "Townsend / Townsendie de Hooker."

The name of this native plant honours the 19th century American naturalist David Townsend, and his English contemporary, botanist William J. Hooker.

Although Royer and Dickenson's Plants of Alberta indicates July/August as this plant's flowering time, the Montana field guide shows sightings only in April/May.

Prairie Wildflower: Townsendia (Hooker's Townsend Daisy / Townsendia hookeri)
Location: Near Banff, Alberta.
Photo Date: April 12, 2016

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Prairie Crocus: First Growth from Dry Grasses

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 20:35:00 +0000

Prairie Crocuses are still blooming freely around Regina, Saskatchewan and even west into the foothills of Alberta, near Banff. Yesterday, I even heard of a spot near here with hundreds of huge clusters — so many that you'd have to walk carefully to avoid them! I would like to visit...

I love these plants, whose buds push through the late winter ground before any of their leaves appear. Among the earliest blooming wildflowers on the Prairies, they are one of our first signs of spring, and striking for their soft, bright, blue-purplish-pink-white flowers. (Yes, all shades — it depends how open the flowers is, and the colour of the light around them.)

Of course, Prairie Crocuses aren't really crocuses at all, but a kind of anemone. They are also called Pasque-flowers. But those are just details. What matters to me is the sight of these flowers bobbing in the wind on a cool, sunny day on the Prairies. Spring!

A breeze, a Prairie Crocus. Or two.
In the Prairies - or in this case - at Banff!
(And that startled us... We didn't realize they'd grow
in dry alpine or montagne landscapes, too. Who knew?) © SB

Prairie Wildflower: Prairie Crocus
Location: Top 2: Wascana Trails, near Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; lower 2: Near Banff, Alberta.
Photo Date: Top 2: April 16, 2016; lower 2: April 12, 2016

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It's Prairie Crocus Time on the Prairies

noreply@blogger.com (Shelley Banks) — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 23:09:00 +0000

The Prairie Crocuses have started to bloom — a definite sign that Spring is really and finally here! I expect within the next few days, as the weather continues to stay warm, there will be a lot more of these lovely purple and gold flowers appearing on our straw-brown Saskatchewan hillsides.

We were also relieved not to see any insects in the dry grasses — especially not any wood ticks, which will soon be out in great force. (A recent local radio item said that they are already out, but as I didn't see any, I prefer not to believe that...)

Prairie Wildflower: Prairie Crocus
Location: Hidden Valley, near Craven, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo Date: April 2, 2016

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