Early
February and what’s happening on Yellow? Are the flowers getting ready to
bloom? Amazingly we have a couple species that have been blooming since last
November. The strange fall weather that closely mimics spring weather
definitely fooled two very different species.
Red
flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
was found in bloom in mid November. Because I don’t look for first bloom dates
in November, the exact date is a mystery. Ribes
is a shrub so it is easy to follow individual plants. Those that flowered in in
November, perhaps 10% of those on the island, have lost their flowers now. But
of those that didn’t bloom in 2015, the first bloom I noted this year was
January 30. And here we are on February 13 with most of the individual plants
showing some flowers. I always think of the rufous hummingbirds arriving to
take advantage of the early currant blooms. However, this year the blooms are
too early and the hummer taking advantage is an Anna’s hummingbird that over
wintered on Yellow. (That is another first for Yellow Island.)
Another
very different species is blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia
parviflora). Likewise it bloomed in mid November and has stayed in bloom
every since. Unlike Ribes that is a
perennial, Collinsia is an annual and
forms small blankets of flowers over the rocky areas. It’s a nice touch of
color on grey winter days.
All northwesterners know winter is the rainy
season. With all the rain, winter is also the greenest time of year with
various mosses and licorice ferns adding numerous bright shades of green to the
rocky outcrops. Add to the mosses the very healthy off white colored reindeer
lichen and the multiple hues of the broadleaf sedum (Sedum spathulifolium) and the rocks atop Hummingbird Hill can be a
photographer’s paradise.
Within
a month or so the lilies that have already broken ground will start to bloom,
tourists will start arriving, and the flowering season will begin exploding in earnest for another year.
(Note the flowering currant and blue-eyed Mary photos are from previous years later in the season.)
