🌿 WILDFLOWERS WILL BE MARCHING IN 🌿

(L-R) Shaw Island brothers
J. "Lee" and Eber Bruns,
Picking wildflower Easter bouquets of
Erythronium oregonum ("White Fawn Lily.")
The bulbs love the rocky, coastal bluffs,
thickets, and woods of Shaw Island.
Seeds of Erythronium not offered
for sale at the Gatehouse;
please leave these flowers untouched
for others to enjoy.
Photo c. 1920.

It was long ago that well-known women, Elizabeth V. Dodd and Harriet G. Tusler completed their monograph Wild Flowering Plants on Coon, McConnell, Reef, and Yellow Islands. It was released in the spring of 1959.
      The compilers of the list of 177 flowering plants said that seven of the plants listed under 33 families are found only on Coon Island, ten on Reef and forty on Yellow Island.
      "Tib" Dodd has identified the plants on Yellow Island, Mrs. Tusler has identified the flowering plants on Coon Island, where she lives, McConnell and Reef Islands.
      Included in the published work is a description of the Islands covered as follows: "Coon, McConnell, Reef and Yellow Islands belong to the Wasp Island group of the San Juan Archipelago. They lie within a few hundred yards of each other about ten miles from the Canadian border in the northwest corner of Washington State. The three acres of Coon Island are mostly wooded with considerable underbrush. There is open grassy point facing N.E., N.W. and S.W. and some small grassy slopes on the south side of the Island. The thirty-one acres of McConnell Island are heavily wooded with some open fields, several grassy points and a small open, swamp area near the hightide line on the north side. The seventeen acres of Reef Island are heavily wooded with much underbrush with a few small areas of open fields.
      The eleven acres of Yellow Island are mostly arid and open, there is a wooded section on the top of the island a few small groups of trees on other parts of the island. the rest is mostly open fields and grassy points. This island is exposed to all winds while the other three islands are more sheltered, especially Coon."     
      Included in the bibliography are eight books used in identifying the plants and in conclusion there are two pages of line drawings picturing Hawkweed, Willow Herb, Cudweed, Wood Rose, Deerhead Orchid, Giant Adder's Tongue, English Plantain, Dog Fennel, Indian Pipe, Everlasting, One Flowered Cancer Root and Nipple-Wort.
      The Orcas Island Historical Society contemplates the compilation of a Herbarium of Orcas Island flora. A start on this work may begin this spring and will be continued over a period of years.
Above text from the Orcas Islander. April 1959.
        When you boat over to Yellow Island this spring to see the wildflowers, remember it was on that gem of an island that Tib lived and did some of her botanizing. Tib and her husband Lewis were friends of Shaw Island.   

The Early Lilac

"Biendl's Early White"
Single Lilac
Mideke porcelain pot.
Shaw Island flowers harvested 15 April 2015.
A fragrant bouquet to cross the miles 
to Napa Valley visitors to the island.
Thank you for leaving the nice note at the Gatehouse.

The 15th of each month is given over to photographing and sharing what's blooming in our garden.
      The garden featured on this site is the one laid out on the island of Shaw. This time of year, she has quite a display. 
      Here are two of her finest white flowers, the first a heritage shrub blooming for several decades in several island gardens. It is thought of as a heritage plant grown here by this family below. You might not recognize the family members, but the silo is still with us.

Ruth Shaw Biendl, John Biendl
& their four girls and infant John 
on father's lap.
If one looks carefully, the shoot for
shipping out firewood for the limekilns
at Roche Hbr can be viewed on the shore
of the family dairy farm on Shaw Island.
 Date c. 1923.
Photos from the Gwen Yansen collection.

      Ruth Shaw, who grew up on Shaw Island, and her husband, John Biendl, settled on their farm in the early 1900s. They cultivated the land later farmed by Gwendolyn and Don Yansen. Island and family historian, Gwen, honored their memory by naming the earliest Lilac to bloom in her garden, "Biendl's Early White." A delicate, lacy, single white with an official name not recorded in any memories residing on Shaw Island. 

      The native flowering spring bulb greeting us today in special mossy nooks, often shady, is the single stalked "White Fawn Lily" (Erythronium oregonum.) There are many nicknames for this flower; the one chosen here is used by Scott Atkinson and Fred Sharpe in their Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands; Mountaineers, 1985, and by the professor, Lewis J. Clark late of Victoria, BC in his Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest; Evergreen Press Limited, 1976.

"White Fawn Lily"
Erythronium oregonum
Shaw Island, WA.
April 2015.
Three photographs by Carol ©

      This delicate "White Fawn Lily" is native from northern OR., through western WA,, Vancouver Island, and the extreme southern coastal mainland of BC. Lewis Clark warns that plucking the beautiful leaves dooms the bulb. 
      According to Clark, the better the exposure to light, the more intense the color of the reverse side of the tepals. The colors vary from yellow-green to rose-maroon, as we can clearly see in these incredible photographs by Carol.

Little stars at our feet, 

 "White Fawn Lily"
U of Washington Biological Preserve
Shaw Island, WA.
15 April '15.

Photo courtesy of Angel©

      The dainty flowers grow in the protected habitat of the U of WA Biological Preserve, where they are not pushed aside by bulldozers but sadly have their habitat invaded by a threatening mass of non-native Scotch Broom (on the State of Washington Noxious Weed list which can be seen here.)
      The stunning native gem, Calypso orchid, is saying goodbye for another year, while the vivid blue Camas is unfolding; more photos another day. Thanks for stopping by.