Dogwoods and bunchberry.

It's hard to believe these two are related.  They are both members of the cornus family.   

The cornus florida tree or Pink Flowering Dogwood I've read is the most common flowering dogwood planted in the Northwest.  

They've just come into full bloom around here.

We are lucky enough to have a mature one that came with the house.  It has some years that it doesn't have as many blooms, this year it's pretty full of these pretty pink flowers.  I've taken lots of pictures of the girls in front of this tree over the years.

About 2 years ago we planted 'Rubra' in the backyard.  

It'a still pretty small, but this is the most flowers it has ever had.  I've never noticed either tree producing much fruit for the birds.

Now here is cornus canadensis or bunchberry.  I would have to say this is my favorite ground cover.

It is a native plant from Northern California to Alaska.  This is a great ground cover for under trees in shady areas and it likes acidic soil.  They spread by underground runners and can be a bit difficult to get established.  Mine are just now really starting to spread and they've been here for a good 4 years.  Bunchberry should have red fruits later in fall, but I don't think I've noticed any before.  They do die down in the winter.  

When you look closely at the flowers you can see the similarities between the ground cover and the tree, I also think the leaves look a lot alike.

I find it amazing how such different sized plants can be so closely related.  

A lot happens in 3 days away from the garden.

The plants sure are growing quickly right now.  Some days I can see a difference just day to day.  But after being gone 3 days I was really surprised to see what was happening.  The first thing I noticed as I walked up to my house was the really sweet smell in the air.  I could smell the apple tree and Daphne 'Summer Ice' all the way in the front yard.  What a nice way to be greeted.  The next thing I saw was a large box sitting on the front porch.  I opened it and was excited to see that the Rabbit weather vane that I had won on Flowergardengirl's give away had already arrived.  

 I'm not quite sure where it will go, but just wanted to share how nice it was.  Thanks again Anna!

The blueberry bushes are just covered in these flowers!

The currant's on the 'Wilder Red' are really growing.  Quite a few branches were broken during the fence building, but we should get some to eat this year.

Oxalis oregana (Wood Sorrel) is blooming.  It's really pretty under the cedar tree.

Columbine (Aquilegia).  The varieties have all mixed and reseeded, so I don't know what they are anymore.  I just love this one.  

More Columbines.  They are all over the front and backyard, most are just getting ready to bloom.

Tiarella 'Crow Feather'.  I love the flowers. I have a couple of different varieties.  The leaves are very different, but the flowers look the same.

Forget-me-nots (Myosotis).  I didn't have quite as many return this year as usual.  Most are much smaller and probably won't bloom for awhile.

Hope you are finding lots of new surprises in your gardens!

A hike in the woods and native plants.

Well, after hiking many miles and helping to chaperone around 150 5th graders I am glad to be home.  I went with my daughter to their outdoor education class on Whidbey Island for 3 days and 2 nights.  It was absolutely beautiful there, perfect weather and lots of activities.  Look at the view we had all day.  This is overlooking Puget Sound and the mountain range are the Olympic Mountains.

The camp we were in is an old Fort that is now a State Park.  The kids learned about navigation, survival, marine biology, the history of the area and lots of hiking and exploring.  I happened to be in a group with my best garden friend and we both had fun seeing all the native plants growing in the forests that we walked through.  I tried to take pictures, but had a difficult time since the main reason I was there was to help with the kids.  Probably not worth losing anyones kids for the sake of a picture of a tree.  I'm far from an expert in Washington native plants but did my best to identify the ones I knew.  I was actually surprised at how many I knew, some I didn't even realize were native plants here.

Here are a few of the different plants I was able to photograph.

Tiarella trifoliata

Tiarella trifoliata

Black gooseberry (ribes lacustre)

Serviceberry (white flowered tree) amelanchier alnifolia

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) These were the most pretty deep pink flowers.

Groundcover growing under trees.  We thought it could be wild ginger, but after looking at pictures, I don't think it is.

Tall Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium)

Unable to identify, does anyone have any ideas?

Beach Pea (lathyrus japonicas)

A few other native plants we saw were:  Tellima grandiflora, salal, ribes sanguineum, many ferns, wild roses and ground covers and of course many trees. Not very much was in bloom, but I did notice quite a few buds on several plants.  Some of the plants I saw turned out to be on the invasive weeds and species list: lamium and holly bushes were two that we saw.  

As I tried to learn some of the plant names I found a really interesting website called  Washington Native Plant Society.   After reading through, it made me realize how much I really want to learn more about the native plants in my area.  There is really something neat about seeing these plants growing in their natural habitat.  I have quite a few in my garden now and would love to add more.  I also came across a plant sale coming up May 9th at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens from 10 - 4.  It's being put on by the Central Puget Sound Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society, and this is their spring plant sale.