The girls and I spent another week in the mountains and most of our walks were in the meadows. Other trails are exposed and too hot for Sky and there is no water. But the meadows are lush, green, damp and there are some ponds and a stream for them to cool their feet. Lots of trails through the meadows too. They didn’t mind my slow movements as I photographed the flowers. Sky picked and ate huckleberries while Willow found sticks and tossed them in the water.
And a few trees and shrubs from our camping trip a couple weeks ago..
It seems like just days ago, our hillside was still covered with rotten snow and now it’s covered with tiny growing plants, some already in bloom. The tiny flowers are fleeting so I’m outside searching for them everyday while the Western Meadowlarks and Say’s Phoebes sing from every perch. Northern Flickers call raucously and sometimes I hear the soft call or see the vibrant glimpse of blue from Western Bluebirds who are checking out all our nest boxes. The honeybees are finding pollen to take back to the hives. Spring is wonderful.
So many bugs in the mountains this month. And wildflowers.
How many different ones can you identify?
Last summer I saw photos of cottongrass growing in meadows in Montana and I thought I really need to go see those places! Earlier this summer, I saw a small patch of cottongrass on one of my hikes in a small wet meadow and it made me think about a large wet meadow that I like to visit. Fortunately I was there earlier this month and indeed, there was cottongrass, lots of it! Why haven’t I noticed it before?
I learned that it likes acidic conditions and since this place has heather and huckleberries, I assume the soil is acidic. It also likes peat bogs. Anybody know of any peat bogs in good condition? There are many varieties of cottongrass (Eriophorum sp.) growing in vastly different climates around the world but all seem similar, needing acidic conditions. Washington Wildflowers lists one for our state – Chamisso’s cottongrass or russet cotton-grass (Eriophorum chamissonis). The range map does not show it in this area.
My Everyday Photos 