Wild Chives / Allium schoenoprasum

No matter where I am, I always love coming across Wild Chives. Love the colour. Photographed this flower on 19 June 2015, along the Chief Mountain Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park. It was growing along with vibrant Wood Lilies and white Mountain Lady's Slippers. The whole area along that road had had the leaves stripped from the trees by millions of Tent Caterpillars - they were all over the tree trunks and branches and on the ground. This was the first day of a three-day trip to Waterton. Travelling south from Calgary was roughly a three-hour drive, giving us time to do some exploring in the park the rest of the day.

I was so lucky to be invited to join friends Sandy and Heide on a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park, from 19-21 (inclusive) June 2015. We met up with other members of the Alberta Native Plant Council for their annual Botany Alberta weekend. Most people who attended stayed at the Crooked Creek Campground, a 5.6 km drive east of the Waterton Park Gate on Highway 5, but my friends and I stayed at the Crandell Mountain Lodge on the edge of Waterton town. The ANPC people had a list of species that they hoped to find, and they were very successful.

Our stay down south overlapped the annual Waterton Wildflower Festival, but we came across very few people on our various drives and hikes. Needless to say, I was extremely fortunate to spend three days with people who are very knowledgeable about plants and many other things. This meant that I got to see many wildflower species, including several that were new to me, such as the gorgeous Mariposa Lily. It was one of the flowers that was on my Wish List - and there were hundreds of them to be seen! I had also never seen the spectacular Bear Grass and I was so thrilled that there were still several plants in bloom. Absolutely made my day!

Our two main hikes of the weekend were the Bertha Lake Trail as far as the Bertha Falls (on 20 June), and the Crandell Lake Trail (on 21 June). Makes me smile when a described "short, easy hike" in a book or on the Internet turns into a full day of exploration along the trail, taking hours to reach the destination, though returning to the cars in a much shorter time. Our walks/hikes are very slow-paced with endless stops to look at/for plants and to take photos. This makes it possible for me to go along.

Crandell Lake from the Crandell Campground trailhead:
Return distance 4.0 km (2.4 miles), elevation gain 150 metres (492'), hiking time 1.5 hours (we took all day!).

Bertha Falls from the townsite trailhead:
Return distance 5.6 km (3.4 miles), elevation gain 150 metres (492'), hiking time 1.5 hours (again, we took all day). For me, this hike felt much further than it was!

The wind made photographing plants a real challenge, including the beautiful Mariposa Lilies in the meadow along the Hay Barn road. Trying to catch a quick shot when a flower is blowing in and out of the viewfinder is not easy! Unfortunately, I'm no longer able to get down and take macro shots (my lens needs to be about 4" away from the subject), so my photos have to be telemacro.

I've been trying to find an online list of plant species in Waterton Park, but have so far been out of luck. I do have the book, "Wildflowers of Waterton Park" by Jacinthe Lavoie and Ian Wilson, which has an Index of Plant names, but I was hoping to find a list that I could print out.

It's going to take me ages to type descriptions for the various photos I'll slowly be posting, and I will no doubt keep adding new bits and pieces over time. There is just so much information I want to add, but my descriptions are already way too long. Also, my photos of quite a few of the plants will be posted for the use of ANPC members and are, unfortunately, really poor images. Need them added to my Waterton Lakes album, so please bear with me : ) Luckily, you don't even need to look at them.