Rain flower

The trail was steep, the brush was wet and the wind was cold, but suddenly
right at my feet appeared this rare blossom of a Rain flower.

Springtime variety

These two photos were taken this afternoon, only 45 minutes and 9 miles apart.

Rainy day Trillium

Western trillium, Trillium ovatum

Fairyslipper

Very seldom do I set out to look for something to photograph, preferring instead to go out into the wild country just to be there and see what’s to be found, but with the extremely dry spring I was afraid I might miss the blooming of the Calypso orchids and so today I sought them out in a place, not where they are on display, but where they hide. These were in dense brush and tall grass under the fir trees, places where the meager moisture we have had has been preserved; in an area where I’ve seen them before. And of course, I took far too many photos of these little pleasures.

Fairyslipper, Calypso bulbosa, Orchid family

USDA Plants, Burke Museum, Wildflowers of the Northwest

Blue clematis

It was late evening a few days back when I discovered some Blue clematis in bloom on Munson Creek and because of the increasing darkness, all of the shots I got of them were taken with flash.

I love the way the clematis blossoms usually appear in the forest, as though they were birds flying among the branches

or demurely hiding their faces under their umbrellas.

However, on that evening several were posing with petals wide open, a pose that I had never seen before, giving me a brand new feel for the Blue clematis.

Blue clematis, clematis occidentalis

Red and white… and blue.

It was a little surprising to see, a few days ago, that the Kinnikinnik is blooming; seems a bit early.

Kinnikinnik, Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, a shrub in the Heath family.

The bluebells are now blooming in more areas and greater numbers, although far less than in a normal year.

Small Bluebells, Long-flower Bluebells, Mertensia longiflora