Skip navigation

Tag Archives: balsamroot

Yellow, As Far As You Can See

This has been the spring of the balsamroot super bloom in our valley! Most years there is a nice display of the arrowleaf balsamroot but it sure seems like this year is over the top! It is starting to fade on the lower hills and with the upcoming hot weather, the flowers will be gone in just a few days. In addition to the balsamroot, there are two or more kinds of lupine, several varieties of lomatium and larkspur too. It all made a good backdrop to photograph the girls. Willow has not yet learned how to pose for the camera and Sky seems a bit tired of it but I keep trying. There was a prescribed burn up by Mazama and its smoke lingered in the air.

Morning Walk

Morning walks with the dogs are the best.

These deer know us
Vernal pond
New nest this year
Last year’s oriole nest
What pulled out all this good nesting material?

Anniversary Hike

Yesterday was our sixth wedding anniversary! To celebrate, we hiked to our wedding spot and then on to Aspen Lake. It was a gloriously warm morning – we are finally getting nice weather. The wildflowers are at the peak of their bloom. Yes, it really was that vibrant. Bird song filled the air.

That’s the spot where we stood.
And here we are again.
Lots of blue larkspur
All of this burned in 2015 but except for dead shrubs, you can’t tell.
Sky celebrated with many jumps in the lake.
This yellow flower is arnica
This yellow flower is a lomatium
Most of these yellow flowers are balsamroot

Summer Scenes

September marks the unofficial end of summer around here. Kids returned to school this week and most vacations are over. Harvest season is in full swing. The weather is beginning to feel like fall. Birds are flocking up for migration. And we try to squeeze in a few more hikes. Here are a few scenes from the end of summer.

 

Cutthroat trout in Blue Lake
Blue Lake
The back of Liberty Bell
Abundant flowers at the farmers market in Twisp
Yummy looking bread at the market
Rugosa rose blooming in the Twisp Commons
Seckel pears
Ginger gold apples – one of my favorites
garlic
Beautiful peppers
Turkey Vultures
A very late-blooming serviceberry
Lots of snowberry has become established in the two years since the fire
Interesting that the snowberry shows both flowers and berries at the same time
And snowberry is somewhat fire-resistant so that’s a good thing
Arrowleaf balsamroot
Dusk from our hill

Methow Valley Spring

The wildflowers have been been stunning these last few weeks. They started early and as expected, they are fading early too. Maybe the morning’s rainfall will bring on a new flush of color. Hummingbirds and swallows continue to be a big presence at our house. I thought the hummers would not settle in after last year’s fire but they seem to be just about as numerous and as ravenous for the juice I put in the feeders each day. I’m afraid I’ve created a bunch of tiny sugar addicts. There are Rufous, Calliope and now Black-chinned Hummingbirds here. Occasionally, especially in the fall, we see Anna’s Hummingbirds. Here are a few images from the past couple of weeks.

From the hill above our house, above the fireline
Balsamroot so deep, you can only see puppy dog tails!
Tent caterpillars on bitterbrush
Lupine
Death camas
Geum triflorum, prairie smoke or old man’s whiskers. It survived the fire.
Violet-green Swallow
Hummingbirds can be very territorial
Calliope Hummingbird male
Blue, a type of butterfly
More blues
Painted lady
Hillsides carpeted in balsamroot above Pearrygin Lake
Mountains over Pearrygin Lake with serviceberry in the foreground

%d bloggers like this: