nature, Photography

Earth Day Wild Flowers

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The arrowleaf balsamroot flowers, or as they are locally called, Okanagan sunflowers, are blooming everywhere.

Right now, the bright yellow of their blooms can be found all over hillsides and throughout the pine forests of the Okanagan Valley.

Their profusion is beautiful, but to First Nations, they were an important food source as this plant is completely edible, including its roots. They’re not just a pretty face!

Although they to some extent resemble sunflowers, they look more like yellow daisies and except for the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and a few other valleys in Washington state, are a relatively rare find, confined as they are in their wild state to certain areas of the west coast of North America.

They won’t last long; in about a week they will start wilting and will disappear until next spring.

Happy Earth Day. 🌎

28 thoughts on “Earth Day Wild Flowers”

  2. Once the yellow coloured flowers arrive, summer is on the way. Thanks for the info on this pretty flower, Lynette. Not sure we have anything quite like it in Alberta. Happy Earth Day. Allan

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    1. Thank you very much, Allan. 🌏 It seems that their range is quite limited to forest clearings (especially pine forests) in BC and Washington. They can apparently be found in Alberta but I’ve never seen them there; maybe there they grow only rarely? Right now they’re growing profusely on hillsides and next to roads. So gorgeous.

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  8. Lovely, and very interesting. How are they eaten? Have you ever eaten them? I mentioned you to my husband yesterday. I told him I wondered if you could tell us the name of our neighbor’s tree. It borders our yard and I just love it. It’s blooming these light pink yet vibrant petals right now. I’ll have to put up a pic some time for you to take a look.

    P.S. We’ve asked our neighbor but he says he doesn’t know what kind of tree it is.

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    1. Hi Lori, apparently the leaves can be eaten cooked or fresh (in a salad) and the roots can be used to make flour. I have tasted the leaves which are mildly lemony; not very strong at all. They would probably be quite good with fish. I haven’t tried the flowers – they’re edible, too.

      Does your neighbour’s tree have flowers that look like those in this link: https://pixabay.com/images/search/nanking%20cherry/
      If so, it’s likely a Nanking cherry or hybrid. They are common in areas where winters can be severe and they are beautiful, especially in spring. The cherries can be quite small and sour but make excellent jellies (you have to pick all those tiny pits out, though!). I had one of these in my garden when I lived in Alberta. It was so gorgeous in spring. Yes, put up a photo. I would love to see it. Cheers.

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      1. Yep. I’m pretty sure that’s it, Lynette. How did you know?? I thought those were berries and didn’t think they could be eaten (used for jellies). The tree didn’t grow too tall. It’s the perfect size. We have no trees in our yard and have considered planting one. Thanks!

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        1. You’re very welcome. The way you described the blossoms made me think of a cherry tree, but cherries don’t do well even in a minor winter cold snap, so I thought it might be a Nanking. Nankings are extremely hardy and will make it through -40C (-40F). They grow about 2.5-3.5m (8-12ft) and have a sort of round shape.

          The one I had was quite old and was about 1.5m (5ft); sometimes they just don’t grow very tall. You can encourage them to spread out by trimming them. Although somewhat short, mine still produced a load of small, bright red cherries which I often left for the birds. They loved them. As I said, you can make jelly with them however which I did maybe 3 or 4 times. Cheers.

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          1. I thought the cherries were inedible berries. This tree here is double the size you mentioned you had. The birds are always singing in it. I decided to add pictures of it for my post in the morning (Tuesday). They came out slightly blurry (or maybe I need glasses). Let me know what you think.

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          2. Thanks, Lori. The one I had was fairly small and I at the time estimated that it was about 50 years old. If your neighbour’s is double what I had, then that would be about right for most of them. I look forward to seeing your post. 😊 Cheers.

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