A carpet of blue

Every year at this time the hilltops and larger parks in Victoria bloom in a carpet of deep purple-blue. It's the time of the Blue Camas flower, which grows wild in the natural Gary Oak meadows.

This flower grows from bulbs that were harvested and eaten by the native peoples who lived here for thousands of years. There is some kind of symbiosis between the Gary Oak trees and the Camas flowers. The meadows are always found where the native Gary Oak grows.















Today my friend and I spent some time in one of these meadows walking and looking and taking photos of these stunning flowers. It's magical hanging out in these meadows especially when the spring sunshine warms your back and the buzzing of bees and birdsong fills the air.







Take a closer look at these beautiful flowers. This is the bud before it opens, and beside it a photo of the flower opening up.

After the flower opens, it develops strong yellow stamens and a bulbous shape in the centre, which becomes a seed pod. 

They're just so strong and vibrant that it's hard to take your eyes away.



And then there is the odd rare white one. These are called Death Camas because unlike the blue variety the bulbs are poisonous. The story is told that the native peoples marked the white ones so they would know to avoid them in the harvesting.

For me the Blue Camas bloom is a sure sign that summer is coming.