Pretty common ~ Pretty flowers

 

Spreading Dogbane ~ Apocynum androsaemifolium

Over the last week or so:

And when I think they are about over…

Elegant Rein Orchid ~ Piperia elegans

Ocean-spray ~ Holodiscus discolor

Brook Cinquefoil ~ Potentilla rivalis

Spreading Dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium

Western White Clematis ~ Clematis ligusticifolia

Bering Chickweed, Alpine Chickweed ~ Cerastium beeringianum

Western Pearly Everlasting ~ Anaphalis margaritacea

Looking forward to Spring

This is the time of year when many of us start looking forward to Spring and all of the new arrivals of the season that will be appearing, my favorites of which are wildflowers. In my photo library there are somewhere around ten thousand photos of western Montana wildflowers and I’ve decided to have a few printed and I have made some simple frames in which to mount them. At the moment I really don’t know what I will do with them, but first I have to see what they might look like that way. As I go along I will post a few of those photos here as a sample of what the next seasons are sure to bring.

Spreading Dogbane ~ Apocynum androsaemifolium

This is a rather mundane appearing little plant that grows to be about 20 inches tall and its flowers are small and, as you walk past them, hardly noticeable. However, when scrutinized closely, they are quite pretty. This photo was taken in June of 2009 along an old road upon which I walk quite frequently, and the gentle raindrops that were falling that day added a little sparkle to the appearance of the blossoms.

Wildflowers of summer (6)

Self-heal ~ Prunella vulgaris

Narrow-leaf Hawksbeard, Annual Hawksbeard, Rooftop Hawksbeard ~ Crepis tectorum

Blue Elderberry ~ Sambucus caerulea

Spreading Dogbane ~ Apocynum androsaemifolium

Moth Mullein ~ Verbascum blattaria

In a festive mood

These are just beginning to bloom now in the high country. They are tiny and usually ignored, but when you look closely, they seem to have their own little celebration going on. I think this group was celebrating the rain.

Spreading Dogbane
Apocynum androsaemifolium
Dogbane family