Buttercups (Ranunculus ssp) are in bloom everywhere from meadows and roadsides to the edge of woods and parks. As lovely as the flowers are to see and appreciate, all of the species are poisonous, though dried their toxins degrade. So, if they are found in hay, they appear to be safe. Animals avoid them otherwise because of their acrid taste. The first two photos were taken on the 3rd of June along 128th Street in Surrey. The last one was taken in Hawthorne Rotary Park (Surrey) along the edge of the woods. They are certainly very bright and colourful with summer here.
Back in southwestern Ontario where I have lived most of my life until settling here last year, there was a spot in the backyard where I kept buttercups. I also had a variety native to the Swiss Alps with larger flowers in another spot in the garden. A meadow mixed with other wild flowers and grasses such as red clover (Trifolium pratense), crownvetch (Coronilla varia), common daisy (Bellis perennis), white clover (Trifolium repens), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), common sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) plus grasses like perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne), meadow foxtail (Alopecuras pratensis), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), timothy grass (Phleum pratense), sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina), meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) and various other grasses is a great sight to see. One of my favourite past times in summer as a youth was watching bees and butterflies in action with the entire meadow alive with activity! Enjoy your summer and the beauty that nature has to offer. There's an adventure around every corner!
