No Cougars on the Divide, Just Autumn Brilliance

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Mark Turner

Sitka Mountain Ash and Cascade Blueberries with drifting mist

Last Saturday I made time to get out into the mountains for one of the few day hikes I’ve done all year. I went with my friends Rick Dubrow and Cindi Landreth, who were also responsible for the design and construction of my studio remodel. They own Adaptations and A-1 Builders.

Rick & Cindi — Rick Dubrow & Cindi Landreth among giant Mountain Hemlocks on the Cougar Divide trail.

We picked Cougar Divide as our destination. The road takes you to nearly 5000′ so there’s little climbing to get to subalpine ridges, meadows, and forest. It’s a long rocky ridge that leads south toward Mount Baker. The trail is an unofficial boot track that enters the Mount Baker Wilderness just a few hundred yards from the parking area. In mid-summer Cougar Divide is known for dense swarms of mosquitoes, but in the rain of early October there were none of the nasty pests buzzing about.

Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Spiny Wood Fern

Posted on September, 2014 by Mark Turner

Wood Fern w/ Vinca minor — Wood Fern with *Vinca minor* in a garden near Bellingham

Spiny wood fern (Dryopteris expansa), is one of our woodland plants that has continued to look good through the dry days of August while some of the other perennials have gone into summer dormancy or looked tired and droopy. We have quite a lot of wood fern growing in our woods, almost always on decaying conifer logs or stumps.

This deciduous fern is easy to recognize, although with just a quick glance you could confuse it with lady fern or male fern. Spiny wood fern has fronds that are broader at the base than at the tip, with a triangular shape that tapers to a point. It gets the spiny part of its name from the chaffy brown scales along the lower part of the leaf stems. Continue reading →

Portrait Garden in Mid-Summer

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Mark Turner

Turner Photographics portrait garden, as seen from our second-story bedroom window.

I spent several hours on this overcast Sunday at the end of the long Fourth of July weekend photographing our garden at its mid-summer peak.

Natalie and I have been enjoying watching the garden unfold with the seasons. It’s our first year at our Wynn Road home, and the garden was established by previous owners. We’re told that everyone who has lived here since the early 1960s has been an avid gardener. There’s evidence of long-term gardening.

We’ll certainly make changes and additions in the coming years, but for now we’re mostly just doing a little editing and enjoying what we find. Some of the perennials are assertive and are crowding other plants, so there’s going to be some shovel pruning in our future.

For now, come along and enjoy our garden with us in this video slideshow. It runs about 6 1/2 minutes. Click the Full Screen icon in the lower right corner for best viewing enjoyment.

If you’d like to visit in person, give us a call to arrange a time.

Plant of the Month: Red Elderberry

Posted on July, 2014 by Mark Turner

I watched our native red elderberries go through their spring progression back in March and April. They’re one of the first shrubs to start unfurling their leaves, beginning in mid-March. Now that summer is here, they’re covered in bright red fruit. There are some big patches of elderberries beside I-5 where they’re easy to spot (and identify) even at 70 mph. Of course, they’re easier to learn at a more leisurely pace in your backyard or along a quiet trail.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have two species of elderberry. More common on the west side of the Cascades is the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa). It is native to much of North America, according to USDA Plants Database. The other is blue elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea), which grows throughout western North America. Both species of elderberry have similar cultivation requirements, as does another species found in eastern North America. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Pacific Ninebark

Posted on June, 2014 by Mark Turner

I’ve become a fan of our native ninebark, Physocarpus capitatus. It’s a big, glorious shrub. As the common name implies, the shredding bark provides year-around interest whether it really has nine layers or not. In June it is covered with ball-like clusters of small white flowers, held just above the dark green foliage. Birds eat the mature seeds in late summer and in autumn the leaves turn golden. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Thimbleberry

Posted on May, 2014 by Mark Turner

The thimbleberries (Rubus parviflorus) are getting ready to burst into bloom throughout the Whatcom County lowlands in the next week or so. The first flowers opened on the plants in our garden last weekend. This robust shrub will soon be covered with large white blossoms, highlighting roadsides and woodland edges.
Continue reading →

Searching for New Wildflowers

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Mark Turner

Potentially new buttercup [Ranunculus sp.]. Klickitat Wildlife Area

It’s getting harder and harder for me to find a wildflower in the Pacific Northwest that I’ve never seen before. After spending two full years on the road looking for everything that blooms, and then another eight years continuing to look there’s not much that I’ve missed. I can add two more species to my list after a trip late last week.

Last Friday I had the pleasure of joining my friend Paul Slichter and some of his friends on a flower hike across a portion of the Klickitat Wildlife Area west of Goldendale, Washington in search of what may be a new species of buttercup. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Deer Fern

Posted on December, 2013 by Mark Turner

0314703 Deer Ferns in moss garden w/ Salal on decaying stumps bkgnd [Blechnum spicant; Gaultheria shallon]. Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Is., WA. © Mark Turner — Deer Ferns in the moss garden at Bloedel Reserve

Even in the depth of winter there are dollops of green on the Northwest forest floor. Deer fern (Blechnum spicant) is one of those hardy evergreens. It’s smaller and less common than the ubiquitous sword fern (Polystichum munitum), which to my mind makes it more interesting and desirable for our garden. The photo above shows Deer Ferns in the moss garden at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: California Fuchsia

Posted on October, 2013 by Mark Turner

There aren’t a lot of perennials or small shrubs that continue to pump out brilliant red-orange blossoms well into autumn. This month’s featured plant, California fuchsia or hummingbird trumpet, is growing in our full sun, rarely watered, shallow soil, streetside garden where we can enjoy it every time we come home and park in front of the house.

Formerly known as Zauschneria californica, it’s sometimes still available under that name in the nursery trade as well as under the currently accepted name, Epilobium canum. It’s a tough plant that’s native to California and adjacent southern Oregon. There are several varieties of the species. If you want all the details, check it out on CalFlora. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Goatsbeard

Posted on June, 2013 by Mark Turner

This month’s plant, goatsbeard, is now blooming along roadsides and in gardens around the Salish Sea. As summer arrives, it will be blooming higher into the foothills. I’ve noticed lots of it blooming along rural roads in the past week while I’ve been out bicycling here in Whatcom County. Continue reading →

360-671-6851 • info@turnerphotographics.com

Blog Archives

No Cougars on the Divide, Just Autumn Brilliance

Portrait Garden in Mid-Summer

Searching for New Wildflowers