Ahead Of The Chill

The colony of Columbine next to the gravel parking area are looking good this year. The near pure stand is from a deliberate and repeated seeding effort. I saw little baby lupine in there too. I think we could add more lupine seeds again.



Geranium macrorrhizum is a close match to the native Geranium maculatum. It is a bit more on the pink side and a heavier bloomer. It also seems to have a denser leaf cover which is nice when it is not in bloom. I think the native G. maculatum has a longer bloom period though. I really should take notes. By now they have probably cross bred and their progeny would only serve to confuse me. I am no Luther Burbank.



In between everything, some progress is being made on the cozy cabin. The staining is near done. I might even finish it tomorrow.



The mini loft floor, top and bottom was all that was left until I noticed all the wood window frames. Oh yes I need to stain the window frames too. Don't want a bunch of different colored woods jumping out at guests. The elements must be synchronized.



The Squaw Root, Conopholis americana is expanding.



Rhododendron and Dame's Rocket



There are still plenty of rhododendron that have not popped. Maybe the resident gardeners will get here in time to see a few. If not, the next wave of flowers will be here to greet them.



It was windy. Sometimes the sticks that fall from the forest trees are logs. It didn't hit anything important like slow growing shrubbery.



Iris Lorelei is back. There was never any doubt about that. It is the most prolific and least fussy iris on this mountain.



Some of these others you never know when they will show up or if they will return. If you just keep adding more there will always be iris.



Same iris with back lighting. The purple is a truer color than the previous blue. I often use my body to put a flower in the shade and eliminate light and shadow lines.



The blue phacelia, Phacelia purshii is now starting to crank out the bloom. Closer inspection between the two makes me think the white one is a species not even in my wildflower book. The petals are fringeless So I went looking on the interwebs to ID it and it seems there is a phacelia species for every county in the country. It's the white phacelia. That will just have to do.



I also spotted a few of the biennial Phacelia bipinnatifida in bloom but it was too windy to get a picture while I was out on a stroll in my heavy winter coat and multiple layers.