Plants grow by the inch but die by the foot.
Springtime—breathe in the crisp air, listen for calls of playful birds and watch your step for wildflowers! As a naturalist with Capital Regional District (CRD) Regional Parks, one of my favourite seasons to be out and about is spring.
There’s something inspiring and uplifting about the season. I recall one outing where a family with young kids was enjoying smelling the wildflowers. One of them got a little too close and ended up with some bright yellow pollen on their nose—thankfully, no bee seemed to mistake them for a flower! Wildflowers can often go unnoticed but when in full bloom, they are a sight to see, and one to protect.
Wildflowers abound in spring with their colourful and diverse looks. They can be incredibly small or large, creatively camouflaged or fantastically showy. On southern Vancouver Island, Garry oak ecosystems help support many species of wildflowers. These ecosystems are rare and endangered with less than three percent remaining in a natural state in Canada. You’ll recognize these ecosystems by the dominant Garry oak trees with their twisty branches and rough scaly bark.
These ecosystems are open meadows, which helps the smaller plants underneath to grow. Many local First Nations managed these meadows by conducting prescribed burns to cultivate the growth of camas. Known by its striking purple flower, camas is a carbohydrate-rich bulb that grows underground. It is worth noting here that in many places, including CRD Regional Parks, harvesting is only permitted for the animals and cultures that depend on these resources.
With these meadows being so rare, protecting them is paramount. In the Greater Victoria area, you can visit CRD Regional Parks like Thetis Lake, Mill Hill and Devonian to see conservation in action. Restoration volunteers work hard to remove invasive species like Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry and park naturalists and cultural programmers lead walks highlighting the parks’ features. A guided walk is a great way to gain a new appreciation for an area but if you’re unable to join a guide, here are some activities I’d recommend for your next spring family outing:
Wildflower Scavenger Hunt
You can find a wildflower scavenger hunt on the CRD website (crd.ca) that you can use on your phone or print off. You can also borrow a plant ID book from the library and use that to help identify what you’re seeing. Wildflowers can bloom at various times so what you see on one walk might be entirely different than your next! You might spot snowdrops as early as January, white fawn lilies in April and purple sanicles in May. Western trillium is one of my favourites to watch for, as the flowers are first white but as time goes on, they turn pink!
Nature Shapes
Cut out some different shapes in various sizes. As you walk along the trail, see if you can find these shapes in nature. What shapes are the flower petals? Are they all the same? How about the sizes? Encourage thoughtful exploration by explaining the importance of leaving flowers for the animals and cultures that depend on them. It is important to model respectful and kind behaviour so wildflowers can be enjoyed by all. There are some species that can take years to bloom from seed to flower; white fawn lilies, for example, can take up to eight years!
Nature Journaling
Bring a journal or some paper, plus pencils or crayons, with you to a park or your backyard. Find some wildflowers and spend time observing them—the shapes, the colours, the textures. Then whether you’re artistic or not, try drawing the flower! Maybe it’s an abstract version (mine would be on par with a stick person). As a game, have members of your family draw different flowers and then guess which flowers they drew. The artist can choose whether to provide clues or not!
Whatever activity you take part in and whichever park you visit, one of the most important things you can do is stay on the trail. Official trails have been designed to protect sensitive areas and, in some cases, endangered species, including Garry oak ecosystems. Wildflowers are often a sight unseen until they bloom. Their leaves are fragile, they can grow by the inch and trampling them with our feet can lead to less wildflowers in following years. Let’s watch our step and stay on trail to make sure wildflowers will continue to be a sight to see for years to come.
