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
Olympic National Forest, WA 8/2020. Aster is Greek for “star”. Fields of these mixed with purple Thistles (Cirsium edule
(more…)
August 24, 2020 | Categories: Alpine , alpine/subalpine meadow , aster/composite , August , July , Olympics , rocky slopes , Unique to Northwest , Washington , white , yellow | Tags: endemic , flower , hiking , mt. ellinor , Olympic National Park , pacific northwest , wildflower | 1 Comment
Olympic National Forest, WA, 8/2020.
A long car ride followed by a steep and crowded trail were suddenly made worthwhile when we spotted these endemic bellflowers growing in-between the rocks (more…)
August 18, 2020 | Categories: Alpine , August , bellflower , July , Olympics , purple/blue , rocky slopes , Unique to Northwest , Washington | Tags: botanizing , endemic , flower , hiking , Olympic National Park , olympic range , pacific northwest , wildflower | 4 Comments
Mt. Ellinor trail, Olympic National Forest, WA, 8/2020.
We often see these spikes of cream-colored bells on rocky peaks and ridges. (more…)
August 11, 2020 | Categories: Alpine , August , Cascades , Olympics , raceme , rocky slopes , saxifrage , Unique to Northwest , Washington , white , yellow | Tags: botanizing , flower , hiking , Olympic National Park , Olympic Peninsula , pacific northwest , wildflower | Leave a 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
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
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
Tire Mountain, Willamette National Forest, OR, 7/2019.
Often seen growing amid browning grasses from drying soil, this lovely flower gets its common name from the fact that it appears as many spring blooms are dying back, often carpeting full hillsides. (more…)
July 30, 2019 | Categories: Cascades , Coastal , Columbia Gorge West , grasslands , grasslands/prarie , July , June , Low Elevation , pink , SE Alaska , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Unique to Northwest , Washington , Willamette Valley | Tags: clarkia , flower , godetia , Hamilton Mountain , tire mountain , wildflower | Leave a comment
Bagley Creek, Mount Baker National Forest, WA, 7/2016.
We didn’t initially think this plant was a saxifrage because we mostly saw the red seed heads and stems, (more…)
April 11, 2019 | Categories: alpine/subalpine meadow , August , Cascades , July , marsh wetland/water's edge , medicinal , Mid Elevation , Olympics , saxifrage , SE Alaska , Unique to Northwest , Washington , white | Tags: bagley creek , flower , mt baker , wildflower | 1 Comment
Willow Creek Natural Area, Eugene, OR, 5/2016.
For Valentine’s Day, we’re posting our first of several native roses from our region, (more…)
February 14, 2019 | Categories: Coastal , Columbia Gorge East , Columbia Gorge West , dry open woods , edible , fragrant , June , Low Elevation , medicinal , Olympics , Oregon , pink , rose , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Washington , Willamette Valley | Tags: flower , Wildflowers | 1 Comment
The Varied-leaf Collomia is a much smaller sibling to the previously-posted Grandiflora collomia (more…)
February 10, 2019 | Categories: Cascades , Columbia Gorge West , June , Low Elevation , May , Olympics , Oregon , phlox , pink , roadsides/disturbed areas , rocky slopes , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Unique to Northwest , Washington | Tags: coldwater lake , flower , mt st helens , Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Major Creek Road, Columbia Gorge, WA, 5/2017.
This attractive member of the gentian family is also sometimes called Elkweed. (more…)
January 14, 2019 | Categories: Columbia Gorge East , dry open woods , East of Cascades , gentian , June , Low Elevation , Mid Elevation , Oregon , purple/blue , rocky slopes , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Washington , white | Tags: Badger Creek , flower , Major Creek Road , wildflower | Leave a comment
Mt. Hood, Vista Ridge Trail, OR, 8/2016.
One of the more common and easy to identify of the dizzying array of yellow composite flowers; we were surprised to find we hadn’t yet posted it. (more…)
January 11, 2019 | Categories: Alpine , alpine/subalpine meadow , aster/composite , August , Cascades , Coastal , East of Cascades , July , marsh wetland/water's edge , Mid Elevation , Olympics , Oregon , SE Alaska , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Washington , yellow | Tags: cairn basin , flower , Mt. Hood , Mt. Rainier , Vista ridge , wildflower | Leave a comment
Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness, WA, 7/2016.
In Washington’s Mt. Baker area, we stumbled upon this gentian, a less common variety within the pacific northwest (more…)
January 6, 2019 | Categories: Alpine , alpine/subalpine meadow , August , Cascades , East of Cascades , gentian , marsh wetland/water's edge , medicinal , Olympics , pink , SE Alaska , Washington | Tags: bitters , flower , moxie , mt baker | 1 Comment
Boundary Trail, Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness, WA, 7/2016.
Grizzly food! Good thing we didn’t know this fact (more…)
September 10, 2018 | Categories: East of Cascades , edible , fragrant , July , Mid Elevation , pea , shaded forests , Washington , white | Tags: arctic tundra , flower , grizzly bear , horseshoe basin , Okanogan , pasayten wilderness , Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Home Sweet Home, Olympic National Park, WA, 8/2018.
If ever one needs a reminder that flowers exist to attract pollinators rather than for human enjoyment, look no further than the homely sawwort. (more…)
August 20, 2018 | Categories: alpine/subalpine meadow , aster/composite , August , Cascades , July , Mid Elevation , Olympics , purple/blue , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Unique to Northwest , Washington | Tags: flower , home sweet home , north fork skokomish trail , Olympic National Park , skokomish river , wildflower | Leave a comment
Umtanum Creek Recreation Area, Yakima River Canyon, WA, 6/2018.
We encountered this bright yellow buckwheat shrub dotting the pale dry sagebrush steppe in the Yakima River Valley in early summer. (more…)
August 5, 2018 | Categories: buckwheat , Columbia Gorge East , East of Cascades , grasslands/prarie , June , Low Elevation , Mid Elevation , Southern Oregon / Northern California , umbel , Unique to Northwest , Washington , yellow | Tags: Flowers , moths , sagebrush , Umtanum , wild , Yakima River | Leave a comment
Along the banks of Royal Lake, Olympic N.P., WA, 7/2016.
We’ve probably mistaken these for Death Camas , Bistort , or Valerian on many occasions. (more…)
July 11, 2018 | Categories: August , Cascades , Coastal , Columbia Gorge West , July , lily , marsh wetland/water's edge , Mid Elevation , Olympics , Oregon , SE Alaska , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Washington , white | Tags: bog , flower , Mt. Hood , Olympic National Park , royal basin , royal lake , wildflower | Leave a comment
Royal Basin trail, Olympic National Park, 7/2016.
This is the most common of the 3 twisted-stalks in our region. (more…)
July 5, 2018 | Categories: All Northwest , Alpine , July , lily , Low Elevation , Mid Elevation , shaded forests , Washington , white | Tags: Olympic National Park , royal basin , Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Burnt Mountain Trail, William O. Douglas Wilderness Area, WA 6/2018.
Hiking along a ridge in Washington’s central Cascades, we were surprised to find a group of these large, unusual looking plants (more…)
July 1, 2018 | Categories: Alpine , alpine/subalpine meadow , dry open woods , East of Cascades , gentian , green , July , Mid Elevation , purple/blue , Southern Oregon / Northern California , Washington | Tags: Flowers , rimrock lake , us12 , white pass , Wildflowers | Leave a comment
nwwildflowers 