Camas Camassia quamash began blooming May 8th 2013 in Southbrook’s Garry oak garden. 
Also blooming are lovely Field chickweed Cerastium arvense 
and interesting Bare stem desert parsley Lomatium nudicaule (seen behind the Camas, above). While the lush new foliage of Coastal shield fern Dryopteris arguta’s lush is shaded by the new leaves of the young Garry oak. 
Elsewhere at Southbrook and on neighbouring Tree Island the Chocolate lillies Fritillaria lanceolata are still blooming 
with Larkspur Delphinium menziesii, Sea blush Plectritis congesta and the flowers above.
The grass and meadow viewing workshop planning is in progress for early June… please stay tuned!
There are 3 varieties of Garry Oaks which live in Western North America. Quercus garryana var. garryana is found here and lives in the largest area which ranges from Southern California, along the coastal mountain ranges up to southern Vancouver Island and the gulf Islands. The variety var. breweri is found in the Siskiyou mountains in Oregon with the final variety var. semota found in the Sierra Nevada area. This Oak was named by David Douglas to honor Nicholas Garry who helped him in his collection of plant samples in the Oregon area. Nicholas Garry(1782?-1856) was employed by Hudson’s Bay Company and later rose up to be the Deputy Governor of the company. Garrya elliptica is also named after him.
Thanks to Erna Sosa who sent this comment. Unfortunately a link to a very dubious web site was attached to the comment, so it is not posted under his name.
John