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Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum), one of the woolly sunflowers, grows in cheerful clumps amid the park restoration grasses
#Photography #SeattleWashington #SeattleSummer #MapleLeafPark #SeattleParkRestorations #BloomScrolling #SeattleParks

The flowers of Oregon sunshine look like miniature pure gold sunflowers about 2 inches (5 cm) wid. The single row of ray flowers encircle the disk flowers. The leaves are either simple or pinnately compound and are often blue green and covered with woolly hairs as are the stems and sepals. In this photo the clump is in the middle of medium height mixed grasses in Maple Leaf Par.

Another native plant spotted in Seattle park restoration areas: the Pacific waterleaf (Hydrophyllum tenuipes) has cool cucumber-ish colors and likes the edges of woodsy spots.
#Photography #SeattleWashington #SeattleSummer #MapleLeafPark #SeattleParkRestorations #BloomScrolling #SeattleParks

These 5 petalled waterleaf flowers growing in the park restoration are a greenish white. The numerous lilac colored stamens with yellow anthers, the hairy stems and sepals, all make the flowering cluster look like a fuzzy ball on top of its upright green stem. The alternate compound leaves are fuzzy as well,.

Weigela in the park
#Photography #SeattleSpring #SeattleWashington #BloomScrolling #MapleLeafPark

Bushes full of pink and white weigela flower corymbs line the path through the park. The 5 petaled tubular flowers have stamens fused to the corolla and a pistil with a white tip. The ovate and strongly veiled green leaves make a nice backdrop to the flowers. Some weigela species are scented like their honeysuckle cousins, but these are not.

I took the dog for a walk in the park. I can't recall such a gorgeous spring. Here's a snapshot of a splendid madrone (arbutus or madrona depending on your USDA zone, Latin name, Arbutus menziesii) in Maple Leaf Park
#Photography #SeattleSpring #SeattleWashington #MapleLeafPark
It makes me feel more enthused about the PNW coast. I can see why it would be idyllic to live here as an indigene. You'd have to work to stock up for wi ter, but how wonderful the scenery!

A snapshot of a Pacific madrone tree full of flowers in a neighborhood park. The tree has a rounded crown, branches covered with reddish bark, abundant large, oval, leathery dark green leaves, and panicles of sweet scented white flowers. The tree is flanked by a couple of other trees, and stands tall above a hill covered with an understory of laurels, small pine trees full of leaf candles, and other shrubs. The foot of the hill is edged by a lawn, with a small gray shih tzu iz sniffing the grass prior to giving himself a full body stinky roll.

Another favorite flower! Cascade penstemons (P. serrulatus) are growing in the Maple Leaf Park restoration area.
#Photography #NativePlants #BloomScrolling #SeattleWashington #SeattleSpring #MapleLeafPark

A tall spike of blue, tubular flowers with five short upturned petals at the end stands above a patch of ovate dentate opposite bright green leaves ( try saying that without stumbling!) There are a few more spikes in the background. In about a week, this will be in full bloom, and the bumblebees will be delighted. I have seen bumblebees rip penstemon flowers open to get at the nectar. It must be choice stuff.

Lupin in the park (Lupinus polyphyllus)
#Photography #SeattleSpring #SeattleWashington #MapleLeafPark #NativePlants #BloomScrolling

Tall spikes of bright navy blue flowers rise from mounds of the palmately compound dark green leavesof the big leaf lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus). The flowers look like pea flowers, with blue keels and a white to pink splotch on the top petal. The flower spikes are blooming from the bottom up, with yellow green buds at the top. These plants are growing in a partially restored patch of Puget prairie, part of a Seattle Parks effort at restoration of native habitat.

The Pacific madrones (Arbutus menziesii) are full of flowers this year, much more so than I have ever seen. #Photography #SeattleWashington #SeattleSpring #NativePlants #MapleLeafPark

A branch of madrone ends with a cluster of racemes full of white urn shaped flowers. The leaves of the tree are oval, dark green, and leathery. If you look closely, the flowers eack look like pearly old fashioned lampshades. The scent is light and mildly like honey.

A young Pacific madrone tree sits by the edge of the park densely covered with dark green leaves and flowers all the way down to the ground. The lawn beneath is bright green and dotted with yellow dandelions.

Flowering quince on lichen and moss covered shrubs.

#SeattleWashington #Photography #MapleLeafPark #SeattleSpring #BloomScroll

I reached into one and it bit me.

Some coral red blossoms on a flowering quince share branches with some different lichens and moss. The lichens are fruticose and sage green (reindeer lichen?), gray and foliose, and yellow and crustose. The flowers are bright and cheery, mostly partially opened, with 5 petals and yellow stamens poking out.

Lunch time cumulus clouds heading east. I read that these indicate fair weather. Ha. They were piling up against the mountains and produced a hailstorm and downpour and wind this afternoon.
#SeattleWashington #SeattleSpring #MapleLeafPark #Weather

White and gray cumulus clouds head east in a blue Seattle sky over Maple Leaf Park. You can see the iconic Maple Leaf water tower, the evergreens and other trees at the perimeter, and the houses abutting the park. The entire upper park area is the top of a water tank covered with concrete and a layer of soil, which is why the trees are all around the outer edge. The grassy field on top of the tank lid is used as a soccer field and for outdoor summer camps, among other things.

Spring colors: the tattered leaves are shifting from winter red to green. The flower buds are shifting fron rose to yellow. Tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) #Photography #SeattleWashington #SeattleSpring #MapleLeafPark #BloomScroll

A cluster of Oregon grape flower buds is going from tightly closed green to more open rose to almost open yellow. Soon happy pollinators will be visiting the blooms. Meanwhile, you can see the thorny holly-like leaves are changing from burgundy red to green.

Virburnums of all kinds like this climate. Late February bloomer looks like early spring with white and pink buds and small delicate flowers.
#Photography #SeattleWashington #SeattleSpring #MapleLeafPark #Bloomscroll

A cyme of pink and white viburnum flower buds on a green shrub blows in the warm (55 F!) breeze. A few 5 petaled flowers are open, and a couple have stamens full of pollen, looking at bit like tiny drumsticks.

I've been struggling with getting a good photo of a patch of a crust mushroom. So have some willow catkins, a preview of spring
#Photography #SeattleWashington #MapleLeafPark

A twig of fuzzy gray willow catkins grace a willow tree in Maple Leaf Park.

Split gill mushrooms growing on trees (Schizophyllum commune).
#Photography #FungiFriends #FungiFriday #SeattleWashington #MapleLeafPark

Fuzzy white caps emerge from a dead tree trunk like piles of sugar powdered cookies

As the mushrooms age, they often turn cream colored. You can see how fuzzy they are

Looking at the underside of split gill fungi, you can see that the gills look a bit like a fan. The edge of the cap shows the densely packed hairs which have a soft spongey texture,

The colors of drought: this time of year the grass should still be showing a lot of green and many should be blooming. Maple Leaf Park, Seattle, Washington, USA
"I think we are bound to, and by, nature. We may want to deny this connection and try to believe we control the external world, but every time there's a snowstorm or drought, we know our fate is tied to the world around us."
--Alice Hoffman
#Photography #PNW #SeattleWashington #MapleLeafPark

Grasses in Maple Leaf Park are already drying, turning late summer shades of gold. The drought is affecting our usually green parks. Seattle, Washington, USA

Another bumblebee loving the native plant restoration in Seattle's Maple Leaf Park, Seattle, Washington, USA

#Bumblebees #Pollinators #PNW #SeattleWashington #Photography #MapleLeafPark

a bumblebee forages in a grassy meadow full of blue, white and yellow native flowers at Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, Seattle, Washington, USA

Bumblebees love lupines---Broadleaf lupine (Lupinus latifolius), park restoration, with a yellow bumblebee (Bombus fervidus), Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, Seattle, Washington, USA---June 2022

I met the forester in charge of this restoration effort, and he was happy someone noticed the fruits of his and the volunteers' labors. He was busy sowing more seeds and digging out more weeds.
#Photography #PNW #MapleLeafPark #SeattleWashington

#MapleLeafPark

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