Playfair Park a colourful ‘hidden gem’
‘My wife and I walked in the park this afternoon. The camas are just beginning to bloom.”
In a late April email, Thomas Russell went on to say that his backyard borders Playfair Park, which he feels is a “hidden gem” that deserves to be better known and visited by more people. “There are about 400 rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas that will be in full bloom during May and June. The camas meadow and Garry oak canopy create a sight to see.”
Playfair Park is in Saanich, off Rock Street, which is off Quadra. The back of the park borders Cumberland and Union.
Camas plants grow from eggshaped bulbs. The plants can sometimes be found in garden centres with a special interest in native plants. Thimble Farms on Salt Spring Island lists many varieties. Bulbs are sold in the fall at garden centres.
The bulbs multiply quickly and naturalize well. All species bear spikes of star-shaped flowers. Camas bulbs were an important staple food for First Nations groups, and were harvested during or soon after flowering to avoid confusing them with the toxic death camas, which bears cream-coloured flowers rather than blooms in the usual shades of blue.
The once abundant camas meadows have, over the years, been largely replaced by development and agriculture, making them historic as well as comely items in home gardens. The plants are easily grown in sunny perennial gardens and in grassy and wild areas. More worms. An Earth Day column acknowledging the prime role of worms in garden soils and describing my habit of rescuing them from paths and pavement elicited emails and phone calls from like-minded people. A sampler:
Cathy in Saltair: “Thank you for validating my habit of saving worms from sidewalks and parking lots.” Cathy regards the practice as a “worthwhile endeavour.”
Bob in Nanoose Bay: “I also go on worm salvage tours. I slip the blade of my pocketknife under a worm to lift it up safely. Picking up a worm with your fingers can damage the worm.” Thanks for the tip. I’ll be lifting worms up on a dull-bladed knife from now on.
Eugen sees worms as soil aerating, nutrient enhancing factories that “munch their way through organic matter” and leave behind “nature’s primeval fertilizer.”