I did not intend to take so many days to post the last part of this wildflower walk that my family and I went on. Last week proved to be a very busy week in my garden and much was accomplished. Although it did wear me out and leave no time for anything else! I hope to share some of what I did in the garden later this week.

Now to continue on with our last nature walk: in the last post I showcased two very bright wildflowers that jumped out at us as we wandered the path we were on. I am more drawn to softer colors and really enjoyed the wildflowers found in today’s post. I like the soothing colors of blue and purple flowers and the wild lupines in full bloom certainly fit that bill.

Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius)

I have never before seen a wild larkspur and had to look these pretty flowers up to identify them. We did not find very many of these blooming so I felt rather lucky to stumble upon the few that we did.

Upland Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum)

The final flower to show from this nature walk was one of the sweetest little wildflowers I have seen. Small little white bells tinged with blue dotted the landscape here and there and would remain unseen if you were not paying close attention.

Bicolor Triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii)

I hope to have my family go on a couple more wildflower hunts this spring while we still have the chance to spot a few. If there is one thing I have learned about nature from gardening is that Mother Nature does not wait for you. One must go out and enjoy all Mother Nature has to offer while you can because if you snooze you lose! The wildflower displays may be short lived but they are so worth going out and finding them.

A few days back I took my children out for another wildflower hunt. This time we were searching for a few specific flowers that I had read were in bloom at the moment. What a treat we had waiting for us!

Northwest Balsamroot growing next to Harsh paintbrush

It leaves me in complete awe over how beautifully and effortlessly Mother Nature will design her garden. Everything seems to flow so perfectly together. Colors complement each other with ease. Nothing looks out of place or arranged. A gardener can learn so much just by observing how Nature designs her garden.

Northwest Balsamroot in full bloom. In the background you can look across the Columbia River and see Washington.

The two wildflowers highlighted in today’s post are Harsh Paintbrush (Castilleja hispida) and Northwest Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea). Everywhere we turned these two flowers were blooming close to one another like a perfect pair.

Bright and cheerfull colors in Mother Nature's garden

They certainly jumped out at us from a distance being as bright as they are.

Northwest Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea)

Honey bee paying a visit to a Northwest Balsamroot flower.

Wickedly bright red is the flower of the Harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida).

It was a gloriously beautiful spring day to be out wildflower hunting. Later this week I will show some softer colors that we also spotted on our wildflower hunt.

For the past week now we have been having beautiful weather and so a few days ago I was finally able to take my kids on our first spring nature walk. In our homeschool one subject we study is nature and nature walks go hand in hand with our nature studies. For this walk I told my 10 year old we were on the look out for wildflowers that might be in bloom. He had previously spotted some Western trilliums (Trillium ovatum) a few days back while playing in the woods by his friend’s home so I knew we were sure to at least find those. For my daughter, who is now 2 ½, I simply love to watch her notice the trees, flowers, leaves, etc. that surround her. She fell in love with a fallen birch flower and would not let it go throughout our entire walk. She also found a stick that she clutched for dear life and absolutely refused to leave behind.

My camera took an unfortunate spill while wrangling those two hikers that were growing weary as I simultaneously attempted a photo (I highly do not recommend attempting this to anyone). It is currently “under the weather” sadly and as I patiently (okay, I’m attempting patience) wait for its repairs I thought I would post a nature walk series here on my blog.

I was able to get a few nice shots before we ended our walk and this first picture is of the beginning as we entered the trail.

Almost immediately we spotted the trilliums. They are so dramatic standing tall as they do on the forest floor. My son was quite pleased with himself when he could identify these right off the bat. In fact he was the first one to spot them.

Another flower we spotted right away was the Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa). When we first moved up here over 3 years ago I remember being so excited to see bleeding hearts growing in the wild. These graceful little plants were everywhere! Literally everywhere we looked we would see the ground carpeted with their lacey foliage. Most were still not yet in bloom but we were lucky and found a few showing off their dainty flowers.

The bleeding hearts always make me think of fairies. I can just imagine them hiding out under the leaves.

This bleeding heart pictured below found quite the place to call home!

I mentioned to my son to take note when we would reach a clearing and suddenly find ourselves in the sun. I asked him did he notice something was missing. I cannot say how proud I was when he noted that the bleeding hearts and sword ferns had dwindled in number. I asked him what he thought that must mean and I could not help but smile from ear to ear when he stated that they must not like the sun as much.

It never ceases to amaze me how much kids will soak knowledge up. My 10 year old truly enjoys our nature studies and is getting rather good at identifying various plant, insects, and birds.

I have more photos to share from our nature walk and I will continue to do so tomorrow.