Forum Index > Trail Talk > Desert Wildflowers... When?
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
jared_j
Member
Member


Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Posts: 298 | TRs | Pics
jared_j
Member
PostSun Mar 18, 2018 2:40 pm 
I don't really have my finger on the the climate and environment of the WA state high desert. When do ya'll expect wildflowers to start popping?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
kbatku
Questionable hiker



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 3330 | TRs | Pics
Location: Yaquima
kbatku
Questionable hiker
PostSun Mar 18, 2018 5:01 pm 
Depends where, what varieties, what altitude etc... There are a few out right now

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
JimK
Member



Joined: 07 Feb 2002
Posts: 5606 | TRs | Pics
Location: Ballard
JimK
Member
PostSun Mar 18, 2018 9:26 pm 
Still very early but we found some today.
buttercup
buttercup
yellow bells
yellow bells
Violet
Violet

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Sculpin
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Apr 2015
Posts: 1376 | TRs | Pics
Sculpin
Member
PostMon Mar 19, 2018 9:09 am 
jared_j wrote:
When do ya'll expect wildflowers to start popping?
OK, I am sort of a de facto expert on this. Peak desert (actually shrub steppe as Washington has no true desert) wildflower bloom is April 20 to May 10. That can move five days either way due to extremely warm or cold weather. There are of course earlier and later flowers but the peak season is the only time you are likely to see hillside color from a distance. First flowering en masse is Grass Widow (Sisyrinchium sp.) in the eastern Columbia Gorge in February, worth a trip to see. The lower Columbia Gorge remains the place through mid-April, when some low elevation areas farther up along the Columbia such as Babcock Bench, Whiskey Dick, and the Colockum start to heat up. Our gorgeous but rare Pediocactus can be seen mid-April in those places if you know where to look. The peak bloom moves quickly up in elevation and then starts to peter out in mid-May most years. That being said, someone (sorry I forgot who) posted a surprising set of flower-rich images from a higher elevation area in the shrub steppe in the first week of June. That year had a very wet Spring. One of our most spectacular and little-known wildflowers, Phemeranthus spinescens, aka the Scabland Fameflower, blooms around Memorial Day. By then it is usually baking hot in the Scablands. You can find them off the beaten path in lower Grand Coulee. Good luck and please post what you find on the "Thread for Earliest Wildflowers"!

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kim Brown
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
Kim Brown
Member
PostMon Mar 19, 2018 11:35 am 
Watch WTA's trip reports as well, to see what others are finding out.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
mike
Member
Member


Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 6389 | TRs | Pics
Location: SJIsl
mike
Member
PostMon Mar 19, 2018 4:16 pm 
We've found ourselves over there the first part of June and were very pleasantly surprised at the display. No arrow root or lupine of course but the second/third inning didn't disappoint. In fact more variety maybe...defer to Sculpin on that.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
wildernessed
viewbagger



Joined: 31 Oct 2004
Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wenatchee
wildernessed
viewbagger
PostMon Mar 19, 2018 4:42 pm 
I saw hundreds of Buttercups, quite a few Yellow Bells, and some Shooting Stars yesterday around Entiat and Chelan on both N and S slopes up to 2000’.

Living in the Anthropocene
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 4745 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bend Oregon
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker
PostTue Mar 20, 2018 1:37 pm 
nothing here in the High Desert yet. Unless this counts. smile.gif
Tumalo Canal Trails 3/18/18
Tumalo Canal Trails 3/18/18
Lots of blue sky and interesting clouds though.
Tumalo Canal Trails 3/18/18
Tumalo Canal Trails 3/18/18
Mtn biker enjoying the view from the top of Burma. 
Smith Rock State Park, Terrebonne OR 3/12/18
Mtn biker enjoying the view from the top of Burma. Smith Rock State Park, Terrebonne OR 3/12/18

friluftsliv
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Alpine Pedestrian
Member
Member


Joined: 24 May 2007
Posts: 188 | TRs | Pics
Location: Stevens Pass
Alpine Pedestrian
Member
PostTue Mar 20, 2018 6:46 pm 
Today hiking to Mt. Tibbetts (just north of Cashmere) we saw scads of draba verna, lots of buttercups, a few bluebells and yellow bells, blue-eyed Mary, one knock-out balsam root in full bloom, what looked to be the beginnings of bitter-roots, a field of spring beauties, and some prairie stars.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
RichP
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics
Location: here
RichP
Member
PostWed Mar 21, 2018 8:02 am 
I hiked Cowiche Mtn via the Snow Mtn Ranch TH yesterday and it's just starting to get colorful.
Wildflowers along the Wildflower Trail.
Wildflowers along the Wildflower Trail.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
gb
Member
Member


Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 6303 | TRs | Pics
gb
Member
PostWed Mar 21, 2018 8:40 am 
RichP wrote:
I hiked Cowiche Mtn via the Snow Mtn Ranch TH yesterday and it's just starting to get colorful.
Wildflowers along the Wildflower Trail.
Wildflowers along the Wildflower Trail.
I would think things should be somewhat late this year because of how cold it was in February and the fact that there really have been very few warm days in March. This next week also looks quite cold for this time of year.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster



Joined: 24 Feb 2018
Posts: 364 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wa
SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster
PostWed Mar 21, 2018 11:05 pm 
I'll be moving across the plains over the Rockies and to that area in early April and anticipate I'll make it just in time for the show 😎

I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
RichP
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics
Location: here
RichP
Member
PostMon Mar 26, 2018 7:48 am 
Some blooms from yesterday in Gingko Petrified Forest State Park backcountry.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trail Talk > Desert Wildflowers... When?
  Happy Birthday noahk!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum