Fritillaria pudica

 "It is one of the most delightful of all spring flowering bulbs, and should be planted in colonies in every sunny, well drained gritty rock garden."

                                                    C.H. Grey

Fritillaria pudica

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Grey more about his statement above. This is a special little flower to me and I have written about it extensively. You can search the Clone Wars and the Golden Bells of the Sahaptin land to read more about it. I really just needed a foil to talk about the weather and the masses of these little golden thimbles in the greenhouse on a chilly February day provided that foil. 

F. pudica 'Richard Britten' just emerging 

It was 19 degrees this morning, pretty chilly for a late February morning after a few weeks of mild temps, remember we had 68 degrees about 10 days ago and that pushed a lot of stuff into growth. I believe the weatherman was saying the low temps could be record setting, of course the last few weeks high temperatures were record setting as well. Does it bother anyone else that we set a new record every couple of weeks now? For a plantsman, setting high temperature records and low temperature records within a week or so of each other will certainly keep you on your toes. 

Hopefully this little post of sunny, golden bells finds you warm and well. 

Mark Akimoff

Where the Wild Things are Part III

 “It is easier to tell a person what life is not, rather than to tell them what it is. A child understands weeds that grow from lack of attention, in a garden. However, it is hard to explain the wild flowers that one gardener calls weeds, and another considers beautiful ground cover.”

― Shannon L. Alder

Spent a fun filled weekend up in the Columbia River Gorge, hiking around to look at some of the spectacular wildflowers that area has to offer. It had unfortunately been decades since I had been to Catherine Creek, a place that I used to spend a lot of time at. Hit the bloom on a great day, sunny skies and calm conditions made for a spectacular time. 

Grass Widows Olsyinium douglasii with Wy'east
in the distance across the mighty Columbia River.

Zygadenus venosus the camas you don't want to eat

The Bitteroot wasn't blooming yet, but the populations looked good in the rocky crevices

The Primrose Monkeyflower in sheets on the wetter sites.

View East (upriver) toward the Dalles

Naked Broomrape Orobanche blooming well.

Mimulus alsinoides tucked into a rock crevice

The Chocolate lilies were just starting into bloom, echoing the bloom time of the different clones in the greenhouse at Illahe

A nice dark form of Fritillaria affinis

Chocolate lily under the oaks

Lithophragma glabrum Bulbiferous woodland stars looking great among the drying down grasses.

Fritillaria pudica, lot's of this one in bloom

I used to spend evenings and weekends hiking around the gorge in the days when I lived in Portland and was immersed in Rock garden plants and finding all the native species I could. It's amazing how much it has changed in the 18 years since I was a regular up here. So crowded at the trailheads now, Dog mountain must have had 300  cars at 9:00am. Jack Poff (Rae Berry's gardener and one of my early mentors and I used to run up the gorge on an afternoon and would have whole place to ourselves. The Dalles Mountain Ranch was always a favorite haunt as well. 

F. pudica, the goldfields of the eastern gorge.

Upper Catherine Creek

Dodecatheon poeticum

I love taking pictures of plants, especially in the wild, Haven't had this much fun since Chile. Despite the crowds at the trailheads, with a little huffing and puffing you can disperse relatively quickly and spread out enough to not notice the huge amount of people descending on nature these days. 

Klickitat, or Mt. Adams by White Mans vernacular
The Gifford Pinchot was one of the places that made me fall in love with the diversity of native plants one can find with a little venturing. This actually reminded me a lot of Chile, the Andes right above the lake District region. 

It was a fun visit and a blast from the past as we stopped by Edgefield to look around the gardens I worked at for a time. Lot's of memories from a time long past, I miss Jack and the Berry garden and the relatively carefree time of youth when knowledge was pouring in and afternoon wildflower adventures to the gorge were common place. Don't miss an opportunity to take that adventure and make time to stop and check out the flowers. Life is coming at me pretty fast these days as the kiddo decides on what university she is headed off to in the fall. A new chapter is coming and I hope to fill it with new adventures and trying to pack as many memories in this next chapter as the pages allow. 

Rain, and heavy winds to finish spring break, par for the course for Oregon in March. Looking forward to some sunshine in the forecast for a busy week of garden work. 

Cheers, 

Mark

The Midas Touch, The Ears of an Ass

 To me, the capacity to earn money has never been a measurement of success. It is my belief that people must develop a philosophy early in life which permits them to have as much pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction now as is possible without injuring themselves or others. Money can help to do this, but it is not and must not become the sole aim of a person's existence. We all know what happened to King Midas.  Rudy Vallee

After Pan had his flute made of Syrinx, he challenged Apollo to a musical contest, All the judges agreed Apollo's Lyre playing had bested the airy flute of Pan. All the judges that is except Midas, he stated his preference for the Pan flute. Apollo was incensed and said to the Grecian King 'I see the problem, it's your ears, they are much too small to hear the true beauty of my music', and with a touch he turned the kings ears into those of an ass. The King was outraged and embarrassed by this curse, but he told no one, he hid the huge donkey ears under hats, huge helmets and scarves. The only one who knew of this secret was his barber. Who had to see when he trimmed the kings hair. The barber was sworn to secrecy and he did his best to keep it to himself. But as the burden of the secret grew, he one day had to let it out. He went to the mountain and dug a hole and whispered into it, the "King has the ears of an ass". He felt immediately relieved having let the secret out. 

Fritillaria reuteri
The golden rims offset the brown on this dainty little species so well. It's an eye grabber for sure. 

The barber had kept his secret to himself, but unfortunately the hole he had dug had contained part of the Oread, or Mountain Nymph Echo. The curse of Echo to repeat the last thing she had heard was bestowed upon her by Hera for her entertaining Zuess. Pretty soon the winds had carried the echo far across the kingdom and the everyone new of the Kings ears. 

Fritillaria raddeana
This one is proving to be an outstanding early season bloomer in the old whiskey barrel at the corner of the carport.

Fritillaria pudica
The Golden Bells of the Sahaptin land in bloom in March

Fritillaria pelinaea
Perhaps one of those species that King Midas may have turned to gold with his touch as it resided in his realm? This is the first year it has bloomed for me from a V. Pilous seed collection on the aegean island of Chios, on Mount Pelineo where it is endemic. Seems to be a quick blooming and hardy specimen for the cold greenhouse. Hoping it sets seeds so I can get some garden trials going on it. 

What did happen to King Midas? Most know of the curse of the golden touch, as he couldn't eat because the food he touched turned to gold, he went to hug his daughter as she was picking roses in the beloved Rose garden and she turned to gold. He quickly realized the foolishness of his wish and begged Dionysus to reverse it. All for the love of riches. 

Stories through history, theology and contemporary times warn of the dangers of the lust of riches. I've found it interesting in my journey through adulthood to observe what some people will do in the all consuming quest for riches. What about integrity and making a difference in this world as a reward. What if everyone sought to just do a little bit better for humanity instead of following the all consuming lust for riches that can make people do such foolish things?

Also, beware the echo, what you say matters and if you want to keep something a secret don't even whisper it to a hole in the ground because you never know where that echo might carry the secret. 

Rain and wind after a mostly sunny and beautiful weekend, filled with smiles and laughs and fancy hats. 

Mark

Damn I missed April Fools

“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.”

— Audra Foveo

Gosh darn, April fools came and went and I wasn't pranked and I didn't post a blog entry and life just seemed to go on as if it were a day no different from any other day really.

Fritillaria pudica

Here we are in April and the Fritillaria are in full swing, The rock garden is just starting to get a few flowers and I'm thinking I really need to start propagating alpines again. I actually went and bought a case of anderson rose pots.......this could be the start of something.

The pasque flowers are crushing the early season show in the rock garden

Illahe from the rock garden, that's a 105 year old house framing a 5 year old Pasque flower. 

I know only a fool would think we are frost free at illahe on April 3rd. But there was something about today the warmth that almost feels like it has taken root that could make a person feel that maybe this is going to be a long, long growing season and maybe it has even truly begun?

It was 62 and cloudy today.

Cheers, 

Mark 

Fading Away

"Time Like a petal in the wind Flows softly by As old lives are taken New ones begin A continual chain Which lasts throughout eternity Every life but a minute in time But each of equal importance." Benjamin Franklin

Fritillaria pudica

You catch these just right in the fading light as the flowers are starting to turn and they take on this lovely setting sun gradient from the orange to the yellow.  Boy were the petals in the wind this weekend, weather report said gusts to 50mph, but I'm pretty sure it felt like some 70 milers coming through. Definitely a blustery day of Winnie the Pooh proportions this past Saturday. The Bulbs are coming on like crazy now with 5 or 6 new ones opening every day. I've been thinking about taming down the vegetable garden this summer to leave some freedom for travel. Kind of a double edge sword if you are trying to live off the land as much as possible, cultivating it ties you to it, but also supports your health and vigor by making you work for it. the continual chain as it goes around and around.

Cheers, 

Mark

Fritillaria pudica

They grew under the old Oak tree out by the driveway, the spring brought them back every year, but the summer made them disappear. The Golden Bells of the Sahaptin Land.

Fritillaria pudica

The diminutive Yellow Fritillary will always be one of my favorites, back when I was just out of College, I spent a lot of time botanizing through the Gorge and out to the Wallowa Mts. This was always a good early species to run across in those areas. Those were some pretty simple times, when I could throw together some backpacking gear into the Jeep and head out for a weekend in the hills and mountains. Life really was pretty simple back then, before mortgages and retirement accounts, health savings and insurance for everything. 

"Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age." Ernest Hemingway

It's been a while since I hit the road with some spartan supplies, a tent, a sleeping bag and a well worn copy of the Oregon Atlas and Gazateer.....maybe it's that hesitation that comes with each advancing year. Maybe the trick is to outpace the hesitation, cast of the bowline type of attitude, jump off the cliff and begin the journey. I'm going to try to get out to see the wild things more this year. I miss those simple times, when I could wander but was seldom lost. 

Chilly start to the day, rain back in the valley this morning after a mostly dry Sunday. 

Cheers,

Mark