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Tiny Wildflowers

We have been away for two weeks on a road trip to California. There are many, many photos from that trip to edit and I have yet to get started. Lots of images of dogs playing in the surf. Prepare yourself. But for the moment I thought I’d share a few flower photos.

When we left, most of the ground on our hillside was covered with snow. Now it’s all gone. The ash-covered dirt is ready for spring and in some places it is already covered with a fresh blush of new green grasses. And if I look closely I can find tiny wildflowers. Some of them seem to be flourishing after last year’s fire. It’s a relief to see color on our landscape again.

Lomatium – maybe gormanii. Salt and pepper
Fritillaria pudica, Yellow bells
More yellow bells
A clump of tiny seedlings. I wonder what they will be?
Claytonia lanceolata. Spring beauty
Currant emerging from roots of a burned shrub
Lewisia rediviva. Bitterroot. I found more of this than usual. It must respond positively to fire.
Balsamroot just emerging from the ground.
Balsamroot

Hillsides Covered with Yellow

Balsamroot sunflowers are in full bloom this week. Their sunny color paints the hillsides of the Methow valley with vivid pigments that invite you to get up and go outdoors. If you’re not out in the hills this week, you are making a mistake. MA and I took the dogs to Patterson Mountain, a popular and easily accessible hiking trail near here.  There were several cars at the trailhead so we knew others were out ahead of us and we did see them but mostly they were leaving as we were arriving so on top of the mountain we had it mostly to ourselves, except for a talkative raven.

The contrast of green hills crowned with yellow and the snow-covered mountains and blue skies surely make this the prettiest time of the year. There were other flowers – rock cress, shooting stars, blue bells, serviceberry, even a late twin flower. The bitterroot were not yet blooming. That surprised me. But the star of the day was the Balsamroot.

What a day!
Sky in the flowers
Luna and Sky
Frida stops to smell the flowers
Oh yeah, you have to drink it all in!
That yellow lab joined us for a short time.
Sky found a stick! Imagine that.
Sky followed the sign indicating a switchback in the trail. Isn’t she a smart girl?
Oh yeah, perfect day on the trail.
Oh look, Sky followed another sign.
Patterson lake with Mt Gardener on the left and the Wolf Creek and the upper Methow on the right
Even though they got to go swimming before the hike, the sun is starting to slow them down.
This Dusky Grouse stayed put as all the dogs walked by and then when MA went past it finally could not stand it and had to get up and walk giving me a great look!
Handsome bird in the flowers.
Resting on the mountain top
We love our snow-covered mountains.
Luna, where have you been?
Heading down.
The flowers and the mountains.
My favorite time of the year.

A Rare, Rainy Day

It seems like the snow just recently melted and yet, already everything is dusty so this morning it was lovely to wake to the smell of petrichor – the pleasant smell that comes with rain after a dry spell. Thanks to Mary Ann for sharing this word with me. It’s just a very light rain so things will not be moist for long. I’ll be watering tiny garden plants again tomorrow or the next day.

The dogs and I had a nice slow walk around our hillside. I am still nursing a sore back so I don’t do anything quickly. It was a good opportunity to study the small plants growing in our normally arid landscape.

This lupine grows near our house is often the first to bloom. It is next to a rock so probably benefits from the reflected heat and light.
Serviceberry in full bloom!
Old serviceberry along our road
Choke cherry, not yet blooming
Dog with a stick in a hurry.
Balsamroot
Balsamroot in front of our neighbors’ small barn
Tent caterpillars on a bitterbrush. They seem smaller than last year.
Currant
I don’t know this one
Bitterroot leaves
Tiny lomatium.
Bluebells
Mullein. Some say it’s native; others say it’s introduced. It has lots of medicinal qualities. It is beautiful. Birds like it. However, it is very invasive.

Wednesday Walk

Someone else coined the term ‘cardio Wednesdays’ and I’ve taken it to heart. Three weeks in a row Luna and I have joined other dogs and women for a brisk uphill hike to someplace with a great view and wonderful wildflowers. This week we went down-valley to hike with Lindsey and her three canine companions in a canyon pretty much in her backyard. We walked an abandoned road up, up, up til we came to a tremendous viewpoint of the snow-covered Sawtooth Mountains underlined with banks of yellow balsamroot sunflowers. Then we followed the ridge to a flat spot, the site of an old hunters’ camp, where we rested before heading down the other side of the ridge. It was a great morning hike.

Ponderosa pines have a wonderful scent when the sun hits the bark

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A puffball emerges from the forest duff

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The Sawtooth’s lie between the Methow Valley and Lake Chelan

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Evidence of old logging activity

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Luna catches her breath

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Balsamroot

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and more balsamroot

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and still more

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Moose is an old dog who still loves his walks

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A relic, possibly from an old hunting camp

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Arnica lines this forest floor. I missed getting photos of the blooming patches.

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A tremendous wildlife tree

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and another one

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Down through fields of balsamroot

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Lindsey points out another trail we could have taken

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Shiny beetle on lupine buds

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Looking back up

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Yesterday’s Wildflowers

This is the height of the wildflower season on our hill. The elevation of our house is about 1850′ and the colors of spring can be fleeting in this arid climate. Yesterday, before the wind came up, I was particularly struck with the beauty and diversity of this dry site’s wildflowers. Last week’s warm weather has been replaced with the more expected breezy and cool weather of spring.

 

Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza sagittata – the signature spring flower of for this valley

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Thompson’s paintbrush (I think), Castilleja thompsonii

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Calochortus sp (sometimes referred to as Cat’s ear)

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Agoseris sp., again I am not sure

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I am pretty sure this is bastard toadflax (not a pretty name for a delicate flower), however where I have seen it before it was more of a salmon color. Comandra umbellata

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Columbia puccoon, Lithospermum ruderale

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Bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata

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Lupine, Lupinus sp

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And another view of balsamroot, looking down-valley to Balky Hill and beyond

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