may you too find love

Columbia River Gorge

The first Lupine of the year

Triteleia laxa

This native California bulb is not uncommon in our part of California. providing a wonderful splash of blue in the spring. It has the common name of "Ithuriel's spear", and it looks great alongside the California poppies in the Ruth Bancroft Garden, as seen above. Triteleia and the related genus Brodiaea have been placed in different families over the years, moving from the Amaryllis Family to the Themidaceae and now to the Asparagaceae (in the subfamily Brodiaeoideae).

Ferocactus emoryi subsp. covillei

Ferocactus emoryi is a barrel cactus from northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona. It has 3 recognized subspecies; this one is subsp. covillei, with red flowers, found in Arizona and in northern Sonora. The subsp. emoryi comes from farther south and has yellow flowers. The third one is subsp. rectispinus, from across the Gulf of Cslifornia in Baja California, with extra-long spines and yellow flowers.

Ferocactus emoryi subsp. rectispinus

This is the spectacular Baja subspecies in the F. emoryi group, notable for its very long spines as well as its large and showy yellow flowers (sometimes these are more orange-yellow). It is certainly having a good year here at the Ruth Bancroft Garden!