Camas celebration!
It’s peak camas season here in Victoria and I had a spectacular hike through a Garry oak meadow-lined trail this weekend. I could have stayed so much longer and choosing photos was extremely hard, but here are some of my favourite views of something I truly love about Victoria.
A Garry oak landscape carpeted with purple camas blooms and green fronds. Oak trees have vivid yellow green leaves and mossy branches.
Closeup of a cluster of camas flowers that are a particularly pale, soft lavender colour. There are closed flowers at the bottom of the stalk, wide open ones in the middle, and unopened buds at the top.
A cluster of blue-purple camas flowers with the ones in the middle in bloom and buds at the top.
Because the camas was so perfect, I opted to pretty much ignore everything else and only focus on camas. But you can see that spring gold and seablush were blooming at the same time. In more wooded areas, there were a few trillium and some violets left too.
A hiking trail with purple and golden wildflowers to the side and trees in the background.
A great abundance of purple camas flowers in among green grass. The camas flowers are in various states of blooming.
A gnarled tree sits in a patch of gold and purple wildflowers.
Very closeup view of a cluster of purple camas flowers. The flower petals are softly out of focus, while the anthers and buds of the cluster are sharp.
Every year I try to take in this season and every year I end up going out at different times. I think last year I saw more fawn lilies, but this spring it’s camas.
Camas blooming abundantly in a Garry oak meadow.
Purple camas flowers are mixed in among pink seablush and green grass. Oak trees are blurred in the background.
Some small number of camas come up white. Same flower, just a different colour. There are look-alikes that are not camas, but are also white. You may have heard that camas bulbs were a food staple here before European colonization, but you shouldn’t try it because the look-alike is not something you’d like to accidentally eat.
A meadow filled with blooming purple camas flowers. A single white camas bloom is in the centre.
A cluster of pale magenta-purple camas flowers, some in bloom, some already closed, and some buds yet to open. The background has blurred shades of yellow and green.
Garry oak trees in a meadow with camas flowers blooming.
Wherever you are, I hope you can enjoy some flowers! Maybe stop and look for them when you’re out.
If you liked these photos, you can also follow me on my nature Instagram account @AndreaRangelOutside.
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