Quiz time! – Wildflower seedlings
Arrowleaf balsamroot and showy phlox (pink in background)
With this early spring the wildflowers are already blooming, and the seedlings at Derby Canyon Natives are up and growing. Curious to know what some of your favorite wildflowers look like when they are just starting out as new plants? Test your knowledge, or ability to guess, with the photos below. Clues are provided, with the answers shown well down the page. Remember – they are all found in the Wenatchee Valley.
1.
A flower of the forest, hummingbirds love it. The genus comes from the Latin name for “eagle”
2.
Thrives in hot, dry areas; blooms in late summer so it’s a treat for pollinators
3.
With distinctive leaves, this one likes moist soil and produces tall flower spikes
4.
Grows in moist areas, even in the shrub-steppe, where its distinctive blue flowers grace the spring in seasonal wet spots
5.The yellow flowers of this one are abundant on our hills right now
6.
For many of us, the “Queen of the Wildflowers”, found in its greatest glory in the Wenatchee Mountains
ANSWERS BELOW
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1. Red columbine (Aquilegia formosa)
2. Snow buckwheat (Eriogonum niveum)
3. Bigleaf lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus)
4. Blue iris (Iris missouriensis)
5. Arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagitata)
6. Tweedy’s lewisia (Cistanthe tweedyi)
Tweedy’s lewisia on the Tillicum Creek road above the Entiat
