Farewell-to-Spring Seeds

I've been keeping an eye on the Farewell-to-Spring plants at the Nisqually-Mashel roundabout in the hopes of gathering some seed for the Barren Wasteland, and last week, they looked like they were ready. I always have some kind of container in the car for botanical opportunities (and usually a shovel and a pair of snips for more ambitious projects), so I hopped out with test tube in hand and began picking pods. Then it occurred to me that since the pods were already dehiscing, it would be easy to simply shake them out into the tube. As I was collecting, a truck pulled up and a woman stepped out, obviously with the same general idea. I wonder how many other people intend to contribute to the spread of native Clarkia outside its range? It's really a very lovely plant, pink or not.

Clarkia, Farewell-to-Spring

Also known as Godetia, our native Clarkia is commonly called "Farewell-to-Spring." Hang on a mo'...did that authority say "native?" Why had I never seen it until the developers planted the roundabout at Nisqually-Mashel State Park with it? I've gone by several times en route to somewhere, and each time, I've continued on my journey, wondering just what the hell all that pink stuff was. Yesterday, I made a point of stopping. Upon closer examination, I was still none the wiser, so I looked it up when I got home. Clarkia, aka Godetia, aka Farewell-to-Spring, native to western Washington in several species. As often as I travel this route, you can bet I'll be keeping my eye on the seed heads. The Barren Wasteland needs some Clarkia.