One of the flowering plants I found along my hike in Donner Pass was Elegant Rock Flower, (Arabis sparsiflora var. arcuata), a dicot, it’s a perennial herb that is native to California.

Hi everyone! If you noticed that I didn’t post yesterday, Thanks! I was up at Donner Pass in Soda Springs California. Here’s what it looked like…

I’ve been traveling for the last five days and am glad to be home. I drew a bunch of wildflowers up in the mountains. I’ll start scanning and sharing them tomorrow morning.

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) lateral view of flowers.

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) dorsal view of flowers.

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is another favorite herb. It has huge groups of cheery daisy-like flowers that smell bright. My little son likes to pop off the tiny flowers and make tea with them.  (http://www.bountifulgardens.org/Chamomile-German/productinfo/HCH-8020/)

Stages of bean development in Emerite Pole Filet Beans (Phaseolus valgaris ‘Emerite’).

Mature Emerite Pole Filet Beans (Phaseolus valgaris ‘Emerite’).

Another really fun plant has been Emerite Pole Filet Beans (Phaseolus valgaris ‘Emerite’). They all germinated beautifully with cute little trios of heart shaped leaves, and then leaped up the provided trellis. They have provided a handful of green beans about every other day, even from my small garden box. They probably would have been even more plentiful, but I coplanted them with the poppies, which are out competing them a bit. These are the delicate purple flowers they grow, before the beans develop. (http://info.reneesgarden.com/seeds/vegetables/bean-pole-filet-emerite/)