BY LESLIE REGO
What a summer for wildflowers this has been. If what follows is an article full of superlatives, it is because this summer surely deserves each and every one.
For the past few summers I have taken meticulous notes and drawings of where I have been hiking, what has been blooming and even the time of day and light conditions. I like to note early-morning or late-evening light and jot down some descriptive words about the orientation of the meadows or the mountains. There are places where the meadow stays in shade a long time until finally the sun comes up and over the mountain and bathes it in sunlight. A good example of this is the meadow at mile marker 145 on Highway 75 north where mule’s ear was on such tremendous display in June. I waited for a long time one early morning, watching the geese, until the sun finally hit the flowers. The date, the time, a descriptive word or two will all go into my journal.
After each hike I make notes on what flowers I saw and if they were at the height of their bloom, a bit early or a bit late. When my husband and I hiked in the White Clouds, we were a bit late for the mountain heather, but spot-on for the beginning of gentian season. The wildflowers we encountered during our hike to Boulder Basin were breathtaking. We also perfectly timed our viewing of thimbleberry during a memorable hike to Mill Lake. The summer before, I had seen these flowers beyond their prime. I noted that in my journal and so I knew that this summer I wanted to do the hikes a bit earlier in the season.
Every summer the weather patterns are different. I take this into account when I try to judge when to do a hike for a specific flower. If we have a particularly hot and dry few weeks early in the summer, a cold spell or a wet spell (which has not happened too much recently), I will note all of that in my journal.
After a few years of taking these meticulous notes, I am now able to judge fairly accurately when to see a particular wildflower. Starting in May with the beautiful wild peony, then in June with the amazing spectacle of purple lupine and chocolate lily at Croy Creek Preserve, and a bit later the yellow lupine behind Dollar Mountain, I saw one beautiful display of wildflower after another.
Next came the lovely mule’s ear. During the early days of July, it was thimbleberry’s turn. July continued to bring a plethora of amazing wildflowers, with elephant’s head, white bog orchid and many others. End of July moved into the wonderful purples of gentian season, and the beginning of August I enjoyed the grouping of monkshood with Grass of Parnassus.
And so it goes throughout the season, one wildflower after another creating an incredible and bountiful display of ethereal beauty.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit www.leslierego.com