Gumboot Lake, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, CA, 7/2023.
What a find! Just a handful of steps from our campsite were marshy areas filled with masses of white flower stalks (teeming with pollinators). We initially mistook them for bog orchids, (more…)
August 31, 2023 | Categories: Asparagus, California, July, June, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, Mid Elevation, raceme, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, white | Tags: botanizing, fen, hiking, mount shasta, serpentine, wildflower | 1 Comment
Near Gumboot Lake, Shasta Trinity NF, CA, 7/ 2023.
We encountered this attractive spike of yellow flowers several times in hikes near Mount Shasta. (more…)
August 19, 2023 | Categories: California, July, marsh wetland/water's edge, Mid Elevation, nartheciaceae, raceme, roadsides/disturbed areas, Southern Oregon / Northern California, yellow | Tags: botanizing, flower, hiking, Mt. Shasta, wildflower | Leave a comment
Manzanita Creek Trail, Lassen National Park, CA, 7/2023
The forests of the pacific northwest are a mycotrophic plant lover’s dream! (more…)
August 13, 2023 | Categories: California, heath, June, May, Mid Elevation, orange/red, saprophytic/mycotrophic, Southern Oregon / Northern California | Tags: botanizing, flower, hiking, Lassen national park, mount shasta, wildflower | Leave a comment
Near Lake Siskiyou, CA 7/2023.
We’ve been chasing these huge neon yellow Blazing Star blooms for a couple years. (more…)
August 6, 2023 | Categories: blazing star, California, Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, July, Mid Elevation, roadsides/disturbed areas, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, yellow | Tags: botanizing, flower, Hawkmoth, Lassen national park, pollinators, shasta-trinity, wildflower | 1 Comment
Paradise Meadow, Mt. Lassen N.P. , CA 7/2023.
California has its own Corn Lily, and it puts on a real flower show (more…)
July 29, 2023 | Categories: All Northwest, California, Cascades, green, July, lily, Mid Elevation, poisonous, Southern Oregon / Northern California, white | Tags: botanizing, botany, flower, hiking, lassen, mount lassen, mount shasta, pacific northwest, PCT, shasta-trinity, wildflower | Leave a comment
Bandit Springs Trail, Ochoco NF, OR 6/2023.
Our third Iris post, this Rocky Mountain Iris is found in wet pockets of Ponderosa Pine forests with drier summers. In the PNW that means east of the cascades, (more…)
July 16, 2023 | Categories: East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, iris, June, Low Elevation, Mid Elevation, Oregon, purple/blue, roadsides/disturbed areas, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, white | Tags: central oregon, Flowers, hiking, Lookout mountain, mitchell, prineville, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Lookout Mountain Trail, Ochoco NF, OR 6/2023.
This darling flower has no common name, forcing you to remember (and remember how to pronounce) its latin genus, (more…)
July 9, 2023 | Categories: East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Oregon, sagebrush steppe, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, waterleaf, white | Tags: flower, hiking, ochoco, wildflower | 2 Comments
Lookout Mountain Trail, Ochoco NF, OR 6/2023.
At last, thanks to this summer’s late thaw, we finally spotted Brown’s peony in bloom, a bit later than usual, in central Oregon’s Ochoco mountains.
(more…)
July 2, 2023 | Categories: brown, East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, June, May, Mid Elevation, orange/red, Oregon, paeoniaceae, rocky slopes, sagebrush steppe, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest | Tags: big summit praire, Crook county, Flowers, Lookout mountain, ochoco, peony, prineville, sagebrush steppe, Wildflowers | 1 Comment
Weldon Wagon Wheel Trail, WA 5/2022.
We nearly passed up this rare orchid, well camouflaged within inches of the trail. This single plant with a pair of intricate nodding slipper flowers was the prize of a blustery May hike on a flower covered ridge just north of the Columbia Gorge. (more…)
May 15, 2022 | Categories: Alpine, brown, Columbia Gorge East, dry open woods, East of Cascades, green, July, June, Low Elevation, May, orchid, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington | Tags: BZ corner, Columbia Gorge, flower, hiking, Little Salmon River, orchid, wildflower | 2 Comments
Cathedral Hills Park, Grants Pass, OR 3/2022.
When we think of Pedicularis, we think of alpine plants like Elephant head and the various Louseworts we find in the moist meadows of Mt Rainier and the high Cascades. (more…)
May 10, 2022 | Categories: April, broomrape, dry open woods, Low Elevation, Mid Elevation, orange/red, Oregon, Southern Oregon / Northern California | Tags: blm, botanizing, flower, grants pass, southern Oregon, Wildflowers | 1 Comment
Devil’s Rest Trail, Columbia River Gorge, OR, 7/2020.
We often encounter the tiny four-petaled blue flowers of the Veronica genus on our hikes in a variety of settings. (more…)
August 4, 2020 | Categories: All Northwest, alpine/subalpine meadow, August, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, East of Cascades, edible, figwort / lousewort, July, June, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, Mid Elevation, Olympics, Oregon, purple/blue, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, Willamette Valley | Tags: Columbia Gorge, flower, hiking, pacific northwest, wildflower | 1 Comment
Tatoosh Ridge Trail, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA, 7/2020.
These Mountain Sageworts were mixed into the incredible flower fields we found on Tatoosh Ridge south of Mt. Rainier. (more…)
July 28, 2020 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, aster/composite, August, Cascades, dry open woods, Olympics, raceme, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, yellow | Tags: absinthe, Alaska, flower, gifford pinchot, hiking, Mt. Rainier, pacific northwest, ridge trail, tatoosh, wildflower, wormwood | 2 Comments
Yet another brilliantly colored Penstemon, P. cardwellii thrives in thin sandy soils, like the northwest side of Mt. St. Helen’s, where we found a stunning display. (more…)
July 7, 2020 | Categories: Cascades, Coastal, dry open woods, figwort / lousewort, July, June, Mid Elevation, purple/blue, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Washington | Tags: boundary trail, flower, hiking, Johnston Ridge Observatory, mt st helens, pacific northwest, wildflower | 2 Comments
Eight Mile Creek Loop, Mt. Hood National Forest, OR, 6/2020.
This small and rather plain member of the rose family, also known as “Pink Pinwheels”, was prevalent in a small, sunny meadow near the trailhead on a recent hike on the east side of Mt. Hood. (more…)
July 1, 2020 | Categories: California, Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, grasslands, grasslands/prarie, July, June, Mid Elevation, pink, rose, Southern Oregon / Northern California | Tags: Fivemile Butte Lookout, Flowers, hiking, pacific northwest, wildflower | Leave a comment
Rowena Plateau, Tom McCall Preserve, Columbia Gorge, OR, 7/2015
Milkweeds, genus Asclepias, are often plain, overlooked, and rarely appear in our wildflower reference guides, but A. fascicularis, in particular is critical to the survival of Monarch butterflies! (more…)
June 24, 2020 | Categories: Coastal, Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, grasslands, grasslands/prarie, July, June, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, Oregon, pink, Southern Oregon / Northern California, umbel, white | Tags: butterflies, flower, hiking, pacific northwest, pollinators, tom McCall, wildflower | Leave a comment
Badger Creek Wilderness, OR, 5/2016.
In the early 2000s, through DNA identification and global research advances, a few of the Cinquefoils, including this common lower elevation meadow flower, were moved from the Potentilla genus to the new Drymocallis genus. To date all three Drymocallis species’ share the trait of being ‘protocarnivorous.’ (more…)
June 15, 2020 | Categories: All Northwest, Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, July, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Olympics, Oregon, rose, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, white, Willamette Valley, yellow | Tags: botanizing, Flowers, hiking, pacific northwest, wilflowers | Leave a comment
Dalles Mountain Road, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2014.
Unlike the phlox we commonly see carpeting gravelly windswept mountain passes, the p. speciosa variety is a taller plant found in open woods and meadows at low elevation , often mixed with other grassland flowers. (more…)
June 8, 2020 | Categories: Columbia Gorge East, dry open woods, East of Cascades, grasslands, grasslands/prarie, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, phlox, pink, purple/blue, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington | Tags: botanizing, Columbia Gorge, flower, hiking, wildflower | Leave a comment
Three Corner Rock Trail, Skamania County, WA, 5/2020.
It’s nearly impossible to hike in the Cascades without recognizing large drifts of this common plant in the understory, but nearly as rare is seeing it in bloom. (more…)
June 1, 2020 | Categories: barberry, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge West, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, white, Willamette Valley | Tags: Columbia Gorge, Flowers, hiking, pacific northwest, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Weldon Wagon Road Trail, Klickitat County, WA .5/2020.
This native flowering plant is one we often see on spring hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, (more…)
May 25, 2020 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, grasslands/prarie, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, pink, sandalwood, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, white | Tags: botanizing, Flowers, hiking, klickitat, northwest, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Lyle Cherry Orchard Trailhead, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2016.
This early bloomer is only found in dry rocky sites at lower and middle elevations. In fact, most of the photos we’ve seen of this uncommon plant have it springing directly from a rock face. (more…)
January 3, 2020 | Categories: Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, mustard, pink, raceme, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white | Tags: cherry orchard, Columbia Gorge, dry steppe, flower, wildflower | Leave a comment
We found this guy holding on amidst alpine scree and snow near the crest of central Oregon’s Three Fingered Jack this summer. (more…)
November 5, 2019 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, August, borage, Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, dry open woods, East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, July, June, Mid Elevation, Olympics, Oregon, pink, rocky slopes, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, white | Tags: flower, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Mt. Rainier, three fingered jack, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Pacific Crest Trail, Hobart Bluff, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, OR, 7/2019.
We found these large purple flowers in alluring sun-spotted drifts while hiking this summer in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument along the Pacific Crest Trail. (more…)
October 27, 2019 | Categories: California, Cascades, geranium, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Oregon, purple/blue, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Willamette Valley | Tags: cascade-siskiyou national monument, flower, hobart bluff, Non-native, pacific crest trail, wildflower | Leave a comment
Tygh Creek Trail, Badger Creek Wilderness, OR, 5/2016.
Roundleaf Alumroot is a demure relative of the bold colored Heucheras one finds in home gardens. (more…)
October 20, 2019 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, Cascades, East of Cascades, July, June, Low Elevation, Mid Elevation, Oregon, raceme, rocky slopes, saxifrage, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, white, yellow | Tags: badger creek wilderness, flower, heuchera, wildflower | Leave a comment
Willow Creek Nature Preserve, Eugene, OR, 5/2016.
This is the most common of the bashful blue-eyed grasses we encounter, (more…)
September 10, 2019 | Categories: All Northwest, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, East of Cascades, grasslands, grasslands/prarie, iris, July, June, Low Elevation, Mid Elevation, Olympics, Oregon, purple/blue, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Willamette Valley | Tags: cascade-siskiyou national monument, eugene, flower, green springs trail, hebo lake, hiking, wildflower | 2 Comments
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