One of my favorite summer flowers around our house is the Lilium columbianum, or Columbia Lily. It is quite exotic looking compared to other Pacific Northwest plants.

This lily is native to North America and grows in open woodlands of the west. It is also known as the Tiger Lily or Oregon Lily.

THE BULB

The Columbia Lily grows from a bulb that can be eaten similarly to a potato.

THE STEM & LEAVES

This perennial plant grows quite tall – sometimes up to 5 feet.

The leaves grow in groups around the stem.

WHERE IT GROWS

We notice these beauties in the forested area, but outside the shade of the fir trees.

They are some what rare around here. They are much fewer in numbers than other flowers, such as these purple foxgloves.

THE FLOWER

Flowers not yet branched out or blooming

Around the end of June, the gorgeous Columbia Lily blooms.

Many flowers bloom from one plant.

The flowers are hermaphrodite, each one having both male and female organs.

Butterflies, hummingbirds and bees visit the Columbia Lily.

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Indian Plum, also known as Oso Berry, is part of the rose family. Scientifically it’s known as Oemleria cerasiformis.

I am highlighting this plant because it is always a joy to see its flowers. They are one of the earliest shrubs around our house to bloom. Surely a sign that the loomy, gloomy winter is behind us. However, this year it’s still raining… a lot.

THE FLOWER

Usually I notice the flowers sometime in March. They are lovely, even though the leaves are just barely opening.

The Indian Plum produces many suckers, which can create a nice place for birds to nest and critters to hide.

This deciduous shrub is found in the far western part of the Pacific Northwest, from southern British Columbia to Northern California. It grows in moist wooded areas.

Clusters of flowers dangle from the stem. They are a great nectar source for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

The Indian Plum is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are not on the same plant. Because of this, they need insects to aid in propagation.

THE FRUIT

The fruit emerges where the flowers once were. They change from an orange color, to pinkish, to a dark bluish black.

The fruit is edible, but is bitter.

Another beautiful plant. Another reason I love living where we do.

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Typically summer is when I make potato salad since salads and summer kinda go hand in hand. But, this recipe is scrumptious any time of year. It’s especially handy after Easter when I’m trying to make use of the dozens of eggs we dyed.

Since we always have plenty of fresh eggs, this recipe calls for a few more than an ordinary potato salad. It reminds of a potato salad and egg salad mash up.

INGREDIENTS

• 20 red potatoes
• 1 cup dill pickles, diced
• 7 hard boiled eggs, or steam ’em like I do
• 2 tablespoons yellow or white onion, diced
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise, store bought or homemade
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 3 tablespoons pickle juice
• 2 teaspoons parsley, minced
• sea salt or kosher salt
• pepper
• paprika

THE POTATOES

Scrub potatoes.

Peel them, if you feel like it. Some days I give them a rough peel, some times I don’t peel them at all.

Slice potatoes in half.

Boil until fork tender. For me, that’s usually right around 22 minutes.

Drain.

Smash the potatoes – ideally with a potato masher. Mine, however, has ran away never to return apparently, so I use a fork. You are not making mashed potatoes, so a rough smashing will do.

If you opted not to peel your potatoes, you might want to pick out some of the larger skin pieces. That’s what I do.

ADDING THE OTHER STUFF

While the potatoes are boiling, I prepare the other ingredients.

I mince parsley, preferably the fresh stuff from our garden.

I dice the onion and pickles. I prefer little pieces, so I dice them fairly fine.

I use an egg slicer to chop the eggs.

When the smashed potatoes are cooled slightly, I stir in the mayo, mustard, pickle juice, salt, pepper and paprika.

Next I fold in the eggs, pickles and onion.

The final step is mixing in the parsley.

This recipe makes about 7.5 cups of smashed potato salad.

ENJOY!

Find a fork and dig in. It’s delicious!

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