There was a little sun this afternoon so I took advantage of it to re-visit Buttercup Ridge and found quite a number of buttercups in bloom in the customary 20’ X 50’ place on the ridge; none anywhere else around for miles.
I took two pictures of the following pair with different settings and couldn’t decide which I liked best.
Montana Outdoors 
Almost spring looking!
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Comment by Sharon Huff — February 8, 2018 @ 7:51 pm
Just a brief interlude. These hardy little flowers will see more snow before spring really arrives.
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Comment by montucky — February 8, 2018 @ 7:56 pm
WOW! Your buttercups provide a sharp contrast to my black and white snow shots today!
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Comment by lmachayes — February 8, 2018 @ 8:05 pm
They sure do, but we’ll have several more snows before spring. The buttercups bloom in this tiny location a couple of months before anywhere else around. I don’t know why.
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Comment by montucky — February 8, 2018 @ 8:10 pm
Great photog work!
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Comment by doubledacres — February 8, 2018 @ 9:07 pm
Thanks!
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Comment by montucky — February 8, 2018 @ 9:14 pm
They always make me smile, partly because I can hear my dad saying, “What’s up, Buttercup?” I like both of those last photos; I might title the one with the soft focus “Dreaming Of Spring.” When I went out and about this past Sunday, the buttercup patch I’d found had some additions: three cows who were happily munching away on the flowers and foliage. I suspect they appreciated the change from their winter hay bales.
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Comment by shoreacres — February 8, 2018 @ 9:55 pm
Your area is far ahead of ours. We have only this small patch where anything blooms before late March, but I anticipate seeing these early ones every year. Snow is forecast here for tomorrow. I’m longing for the time when our wildflower season starts.
I was playing with the depth of field on the two shots. (My macro lens has a very shallow depth of field.) “Dreaming of Spring” was taken at f/4; the other at f/32.
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Comment by montucky — February 8, 2018 @ 10:09 pm
Lucky you. Ours are just little clusters of leaves at the moment, in deer footprints between the rocks.
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Comment by Harold Rhenisch — February 8, 2018 @ 10:33 pm
I don’t know why they bloom so early in that small location. I’ve wondered if the Bighorn droppings all over the area have have anything to do with it. There aren’t even any leaves anywhere else.
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Comment by montucky — February 8, 2018 @ 10:47 pm
Wonderful to see these flowers – like the first rays of sunshine!
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Comment by Jo Woolf — February 9, 2018 @ 6:02 am
They are a treat this time of year especially. This morning though they are covered by 3 inches of new snow.
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 9:36 am
Very nice buttercup species, and photos of them.
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Comment by bentehaarstad — February 9, 2018 @ 6:26 am
Thanks Bente!
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 9:37 am
Great series. What a wonderful sign of the coming Spring.
I guess it might be a case of once the first lot blooms, all of a sudden every other wildflower follows 🙂
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Comment by Vicki — February 9, 2018 @ 6:35 am
These were just a preview. We’re back in winter again this morning. The snow plows are out.
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 9:40 am
Bright little spots of color….just what I needed on yet another snowy day. 🙂
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Comment by Mama's Empty Nest — February 9, 2018 @ 8:06 am
Yes, it was nice to see them. I’m glad that I took advantage of the brief time of sun yesterday. This morning it’s snowing again with about 3 inches on the ground.
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 9:45 am
These buttercups are like your own private spring garden. And you don’t even need to weed it! Beautiful photos!
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — February 9, 2018 @ 9:47 am
Thanks. That is a rare place, public because it is in the Lolo National Forest, but private because it’s such an ornery place to get to that no one else ever goes there. The animal sign there tells me that I share it with elk, deer and bighorn sheep.
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 9:54 am
Almost your private garden space! Thanks for sharing it with us.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — February 9, 2018 @ 10:03 am
And only about ten miles away.
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 10:16 am
They really are lovely!
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Comment by de Wets Wild — February 9, 2018 @ 8:37 pm
They are among the hardiest and simplest of all our wildflowers and they are very common. Those things would tend to get them ignored, but they are the very first to bloom as spring approaches and that makes them more noticed and welcomed than most of the other flowers. (There must be a moral in there somewhere…)
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 8:45 pm
Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and it seems that’s true for many people’s interaction with the natural world as well…
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Comment by de Wets Wild — February 9, 2018 @ 8:51 pm
I think that’s very true. Another tendency, the fear of the unknown, keeps many from seeing and therefore understanding the wilderness and the unfamiliar things that it contains.
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Comment by montucky — February 9, 2018 @ 9:13 pm
i was going to ask if other people know about your secret buttercup garden but it sounds as though you are the only biped visitor.
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Comment by Candace — February 10, 2018 @ 12:16 am
I have not seen signs of anyone else visiting there, Although I’m sure someone has. It may be very rare for anyone to visit this time of year though because it’s just not a typical place to visit in winter. Other times of year, of course, the buttercups aren’t blooming and I can’t remember seeing other wildflowers there.
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Comment by montucky — February 10, 2018 @ 9:41 am
They are sunshiny beautiful! What a special little space to visit!
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Comment by bayphotosbydonna — February 10, 2018 @ 8:43 am
Yes, it is a special little place.I like to think of it as my own little retreat.
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Comment by montucky — February 10, 2018 @ 9:42 am
Very beautiful. The fourth photo from the top is my favorite one.
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Comment by Sartenada — February 13, 2018 @ 1:34 am
I like that one too. That little flower makes its home amidst a “forest” of moss.
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Comment by montucky — February 13, 2018 @ 9:31 am
Aren’t they lovely .. with that happy pop of yellow!
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Comment by Julie@frogpondfarm — February 14, 2018 @ 1:57 am
They will be common in a few more months, but these few are very special right now.
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Comment by montucky — February 14, 2018 @ 9:24 am
Such lovely little beings and photos of them.
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Comment by Tammie — February 14, 2018 @ 4:02 pm
They are lovely. Right now they are weathering more snow and very cold nights.
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Comment by montucky — February 14, 2018 @ 7:56 pm