Garry Oak Meadow-Mid-April

A friend who knows the oak meadow well, took me to a grove where many checker lilies and fawn lilies grow, alongside several other treasures like prairie star, beautiful bittercress and blue-eyed Mary. The dark checker lilies hid in the dappled shade cast by the bare oak branches until I learned to discern their graceful form. The bright pink bittercress bloomed nearby and drew my eye right away.

I am chronicling the tremendous variety of botanical riches in this rare and endangered ecosystem near the lower Columbia River in Oregon. Once the Willamette Valley and many places along the Columbia River Corridor were characterized by oak savanna. The dappled shade cast by the oaks creates the perfect environment for a wide variety of prairie and woodland plants…a carpet of wildflowers in spring. Most of these oak meadows have been lost to development. This is one of the few left and we are not sure how long it will remain. For more information go here.

Checker lilies are also called chocolate lilies, and I can see why–that delicious, rich chocolatey color. The light shining through the petals brings out the reddish tones, and makes the yellow/green spots glow. Since Quinacridone Violet turns slightly brown when under-painted with yellow, it worked well for the chocolate lily petals. I added Quinacridone Magenta where the translucency of the petal let more sunlight through, and Perylene Violet in the shaded areas.

The weather is warming and now the Camassia meadows are thick with flowers. I’ll try to post more about the meadow soon. Are the native plants of your region blooming yet? If so, what are your favorites?