A Wildflower Journal is not a definitive botanical resource website.   In the end it is a blog, based on experiences of hiking, paddling, and exploring in our larger area.   After collecting a number of photos from specific places, they are added as a post with additional information provided from reliable sources.   The sightings are very specific to a location and date, but also I try to add any relevant ecological notes.   In the end, it is a growth process for the authors, learning more about what they experience, then sharing their findings (observations, inspections, recordings, and summaries) with the audience of the website.

I hiked in the Mt. Mara foothills in mid-March, following south-facing ridge up the mountain.   the first sage buttercups (name) were emerging, but a number of below zero overnight temperatures and two snowfalls limited the flowers from opening.   We came across a few where the petals have fallen off during a cold night.   This one was tentatively opening on March 16.

 

In various places, we could see mosses starting to grow, sending out new stems and capsules.

In a sheltered gully, saskatoon buds were forming.

 

Three of us hiked through the hills on the east side of the Tranquille River and wandered through sagebrush grasslands for a few hours.   We climbed over a rocky bluff (Moby Dick) and saw rock shelves of mosses, yellowish with new capsule growth.

 

 

On the lower slopes, we spotted a few puccinia monoica on boechera (a post will be added to this website on this phenomenon).

 

Two of us hiked up Mt. Paul and came across this wild beauty in the meadows.

 

I hiked down the Whaleback west of Kenna Cartwright Park and kept my eyes open for emerging flora, but also last year’s growth.   This was blazing star (Mentzelia laevicaulis), spotted on a bare, south-facing slope.

 

On an older big sagebrush (artemisia tridentata) there was some yellow lichens (gold dust lichen?) covering the lower trunks of the shrub.

 

My favorite hike is to the top of Dewdrop Ridge then an eclectic choices of routes for a loop hike.   Several types of crustose lichens were found on rock outcrops.

 

 

On a south-facing slopes silverleaf phacelia (hastata) had new spring growth.  It is a taprooted perennial which produces whitish small flowers in spring.

 

In wet,  sheltered spots. pixie cups (cladonia) grew above the wintered vegetation.

 

We hiked the trails on the benchland bluffs off Bunker Road.   The first flowering yellow bells (fritillaria pudica) for us graced the side of the trail, a welcome sign of spring.

 

We spotted some emerging upland larkspur (delphinium nuttallianum) with their distinctive leaves rising above the prostate grasses.

 

 

A mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) landed on the side of trail.   It was windy, so getting a sharp image wasn’t easy.

 

On almost every day we were out hiking there were bluebirds to spot.   Most wouldn’t stay withing focal range at rest, but this one obliged us.

 

 

On the last day of March, I drove up to the Six Mile area to check out a pink lake.   Turtle Lake showed signs of bacterial growth.   This happens to Buse Lake on occasion (article by Rick Howie).

 

 

In isolation, most hikes were solo ventures or just my wife along on established trails, and this will be the norm for outings over the next month.