Early Blue Violets: Spring Saskatchewan flowers

Early Blue Violet.   © SB 

What luck at the Condie Nature Refuge this week — I saw Early blue violets in bloom along several of the pathways.

These small wild flowers grow very low to the ground in grasslands and open slopes.

The petals are purple and white, and side petals are white-bearded, says Jennings/Prairie Beauty.

Vance/Jowsey compares these violets to Northern Bog Violets, but says only the Early blue violet is common on moist locations on the prairies.

Shooting these little flowers required getting really low to the ground myself... which in spring in Saskatchewan, means risking ticks of various shapes and sizes.

(There's a large photo of one of these little arachnids — an American Dog Tick — on my Prairie Nature blog... It's crawling across the dandelion that lends yellow colour to the Early blue violet photo, below...)

Early Blue Violet plant.   © SB 

Early Blue Violet.   © SB 

Prairie Wildflower: Early blue violet 
Location: Condie Nature Refuge, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo Dates: May 22, 2013. 

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