We took a trip up to Mt Walker to enjoy the wild rhododendrons. Mt Walker has quite a dense collection and we caught them in full bloom and it’s a very good year. When I say ‘collection’ I don’t mean to imply that they aren’t wild.
The native rhododendron is the official Washington State Flower.
These were taken on a hike in the Olympic National Forest … and not recently. This is the high country near Lake Lucerne in the Upper Duckabush and along the O’Neil Pass Trail. This area is usually covered in snow until mid-July or so. I would really like to get back to this location, but it’s at least a long 2 day backpack … which means the pack starts weighing enough that I have second thoughts.
These two images were taken just a few minutes apart … the top photo was a bouquet that is in a vase mounted on a fence post, while the bottom image is just a little ways up the Larry Scott Trail. They are so different from each other, but both so beautiful.
At Fort Worden State Park there is a small garden of rhododendrons. The first ones are in bloom in mid-March and they continue through the spring. It’s nice to be able to visit and see some signs that the more monochrome winter is actually being replaced by springtime colors.
It’s still winter (we got snow on February 27th), but we are all looking forward to spring and the blooms of wild and domestic plants. (the snow smashed my crocus) But there’s still some reminders from last year’s summer blooms, like this remnant ocean spray that was catching some sunlight through a gap in the tree cover.