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Digital Dirt August 1, 2002 Enough Already with the Wildflowers! Six years in the Northwest and my eyes have finally opened. Not to issues of self; I could stand to do way less of that. No, I'm talking about getting out of the office and into the mountains. That has been inexplicably hard to do. But with a friend like Maurice Horn, who simply divines what's blooming where, I am now a hiking fool. "Everybody," says Maurice, "should get to be Maria for at least 15 minutes." Maria von Trapp, that is. My chance came during the hike we took along the Silver Star trail in southern Washington. But rather than move me to song, I was left fairly speechless through meadow after gorgeous meadow of wildflowers. The "plant du jour" was supposed to be our native lily, Lilium columbianum, an orange Turk's cap job under 3' tall. We saw a smattering, just enough to whet my appetite, but the absolute prize bonus was Gentiana affinis (Oregon bottle gentian). We're talking flowers that redefine the meaning of blue. And for a further spin of the color wheel, add neon orange paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), light purple Cascade penstemon (Penstemon serrulatus) and the transparent sky blue of harebell (Campanula rotundifolia). Not just a few, but mile after mile. The trip went literally over the top with near-constant views of Mt. St. Helens; she spent the day in a halo of smoke. I took the digital camera along but the damn photo card was already full of Della pictures. How could I delete those? So I managed just a few snaps to show her on our return; Della's been limping lately so for now, she's been benched.
For an even better diary of hiking Silver Star Mountain, check out plant lover Paul Slichter's Web page. 
Copyright © 2003 National Public Radio, Washington, D.C. |
