i

SUMMER'S GLORY PERSONIFIED
TIGER LILY 5
Oil on Purcell Mountain Slate Stone
Size:  4.25" high, 5.25" wide, 6/16" thick
Elaine Sell Prefontaine

NATURE  NOTES:

Tiger Lily, Columbia Lily, Oregon Lily 
Lily Family (Liliaceae), (Lilium columbianum). 

These tall regal red-orange beauties are quite rare in this part of the Columbia Valley, and  I  felt myself quite privileged on the few occasions  I  witnessed their full blooming radiance on the open southeastern slopes of the Purcell Mountains. 

Their lovely  drooping heads with curled back petals reveal distinctive deep purple spots making one think of the  tiger's spots.

Being edible the indigenous peoples used their peppery tasting bulbs to flavor other foods. 

The Prairie Lily, Rocky Mountain Lily,  Western Red Lily
Lily Family (Liliaceae), (Lilium philadelphicum) 

A close family member to the Tiger Lily, and the floral emblem of Saskatchewan.

This lily was one of the first prairie flowers I grew to love in my childhood days in Saskatchewan. The sight of its stately orange elegance decorating the prairie floor in beautiful brilliance was a sight to behold, and lingers in my memory to this day. 

Because this wild lily is in danger of becoming extinct picking it is now prohibited in some areas. 

Photo of Rocky Mountain Lily Growing in the Rockies

LAVENDER LOVELINESS
CROCUS 4
Oil on Purcell Mountain Slate Stone
Size:  5½" high, 8½" wide, ½" thick
Elaine Sell Prefontaine

NATURE  NOTES:

Wild Prairie Crocus, Lions Beard, Pasque Flower
(Anemone patens)

These light lavender little fellows are one of the first flowers to pop up their  heads in the spring just after the snow has gone. The crocus blooms before it's foliage is developed. Their stems are covered with soft velvet feeling fuzzy white hair.  To keep them warm, do you think?   They thrive in open sunny areas all the way from the Prairies to the Rocky Mountains. 

This flower has endeared itself to many being the Floral Emblem of Manitoba and the State Flower of South Dakota.