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.
I was hiking up the Mount Walker trail in the Olympic National Forest recently. It’s a good warm up hike … close to Port Townsend and pretty steep, but short. What I like best is I can drive to the top and hike down until my knees are complaining, then turn around and hike back up. On the return trip, I came around the corner of a switchback and there was a rhododendron highlighted by the sun through a break in the forest canopy.
These images were both taken at Kubota Gardens in Seattle at the first of April. That is a little early for Rhododendrons (below) and a little late late for camellias (above). Of course, it depends on the variety, and the weather conditions. But I was pleased to see the Rhody…. a real sign of Spring.
The Rhododendron is the state flower of Washington. Salal and Madrone are allow common … especially the salal. I have a lot of salal growing in my yard (growing wild) and it is a nice ground cover. This was taken along the Larry Scott Trail (a converted rail right-of-way). There is also a leaf or two from the low-growing native blackberry … which make the best pie, by far.