Pipsissewa

All summer I looked forward to seeing this little shrub and was disappointed, thinking that I had missed it this year, but today on the west slope of Mount Baldy under the sub-alpine firs many were in bloom. I enjoy photographing it and especially enjoy displaying the photos, for you see, its pretty little face is almost always facing down toward the ground causing it to be overlooked. This one was growing on a very steep slope and I was able to slither up from below and get this view without disturbing the plant at all.

Pipsissewa, Prince’s-pine ~ Chimaphila umbellata

Not everybody likes rain

Very early this morning we had a brief thunderstorm and some much-needed rain. Just after I went out to feed the birds, this baby Pine Siskin came in to the feeder for his breakfast looking wet, disheveled and forlorn. The sunflower seeds cheered him up. I think it was his first rain.

Wildflowers of summer (11)

As summer draws to a close, blooms of the wildflowers have almost completed; I have only a few more photos of this year’s blooms left to post.

For the next couple of weeks my posting will likely be sporadic and/or brief. Our daughter will be here for a visit and we have a lot of plans, many of which involve trekking into the beautiful back country of Montana. I’m sure there will be many photos to be posted later as a result of those trips, perhaps including some new blooms.

Shrubby Penstemon and Indian Paintbrush

Golden Clover ~ Trifolium aureum

Deptford Pink ~ Dianthus armeria

Yellow Evening Primrose ~ Oenothera villas

Parsnip-flower Buckwheat ~ Erigonum heracleoides

Arrowleaf Buckwheat ~ Erigonum compositum

Almost September

Tonight while replying to a comment I reviewed my photo archives from the past several Septembers and was reminded that September is a very good month here for sunsets. This one occurred on September 5, 2009.

Dusk at Vermilion Pass

Bear-grass

Bear-grass ~ Xerophyllum tenax