Flowers!~

Pacific Bleeding Heart- Dicentra Formosa part of the poppy family. These beautiful flowers bloom in spring and are incredibly beautiful! I found this one along a hillside and there was very few of them. They grow in damp shaded ares and can grow in gravely soil such as that found in Ravenna Park. The leaves were finely divided much like a ferns, the flowers grew in clusters as you can see above, and at the base of the stem there were four petals. These flowers can bloom in the fall, go dormant during the summer, then make a resurgence in fall.

Forget-me-not-Myosotis,  with close to 50 species in the genus there is a lot of variation, most are small and this one has blue and yellow. they can tolerate partial sun and shade. I had not been to my site in two weeks so this was the first time I had seen these flowers. They must have just recently bloomed!

One of the most beautiful native flowers of Washington, the Western Trillium is an exciting find within Ravenna Park. They commonly grow in cool moist woods and are a staple of coniferous forests west of the cascades down to Northern California. As the name suggests, this flower is centered on three, with three leaves and three petals to its flower. The flower is most commonly white, though variations of pink to red have been found.

Viola Glabella, or the Stream Violet is another beautiful flower of Ravenna. As the name implies, this flower grows well alongside streams and can be found along Ravenna Creek. Its leaves are heart shaped with a strong tip and each stem produces a single, dark yellow flower. You can find these yellow flowers blooming in late spring.

Salmonberry flower, Rubis spectabilis

Though technically not a standalone flower, when the thick stands of Salmonberry begin to bloom in spring it is a sight to behold. The lush green of the plant offers a great backdrop to the vibrant purple to pink flowers that bloom from its stem. These flowers are visited commonly by the Rufous Hummingbirds of the area. The leaves of this plant are divided into 3 distinct leaflets, while the flower has 5 petals from pink to magenta. While this plant is a staple across Western Washington, it favors a moist habitat.

Similar to the Salmonberry, Red-Flowering Currant isn't a traditional flower, but rather a currant with a vibrant flower. Its leaves are palmately divided into 3 to 5 soft lobes. The flowers grow in clusters of 10 to 20 and are usually red with a white center, though pink and white variations have been documented. This is an incredibly hardy plant and can be found virtually anywhere west of the Cascades down to Northern California.