More shades of green

The annual re-leafing of Cougar Creek park has started. Greenish-white flowers bloom overhead, standing tall above the leaves:

Elderberry branch. The leaves, even freshly opened, are a deep green.

Clusters of tiny flowers on tall stems.

These flowers are edible. The red berries, later on, not so much, although BC native peoples ate them, and birds love them. But most people today complain of a pungent aftertaste, too many seeds, and a long, complicated processing to remove seeds and taste.

But the flowers are excellent. Dad used to dip the clusters, whole, stem and all, into pancake batter and cook them the same as regular pancakes. It made a nice springtime breakfast treat.

... or hanging in the shelter of new, green-yellow maple leaves. 

In the shade of the maples, a new forest of large horsetails is taking over the shore of the lagoon.

Spore-producing shoots (strobili). The taller, all-green, sterile stalks will appear after these have spread their spores. Most of the green leaves are buttercups.

There are always dandelions.

More red than green. Smaller maple growing in deep shade by the creek.

In sunny patches, the salmon berries are in flower, but not the Indian plum. Not yet, but it won't be long now.