Snow blanketed the Wenatchee Valley on Saturday night. Snow so late in the spring is a first during my nine years of living in Central Washington. It occurred to me around 11 a.m. on Sunday that snow on the background hills with foregrounds of colorful flowers provided the elements for pretty photos. I grabbed the camera and into the Wenatchee Foothills I rambled.
I was a bit late – the hills would have been snowier and, I suspect, the light more dramatic a few hours earlier. Nonetheless, I brought home several nice shots.
As far as what I saw blooming in the Sage Hills between elevations of 1,000 and 2,000 feet, here’s what I remember. Balsamroot was omnipresent and the lupines were ubiquitous, though still a ways from peak bloom. The desert parsley was emerging in force but still nowhere near its peak. I also saw limited numbers of phlox, linear-leaf daisies, bluebells, service berries, death camas, and prairie stars. Finally, I encountered one dwarf waterleaf bloom just clearing its head from the dirt, and one stalk of yarrow waving in the wind.
Click here for a slideshow featuring these and other flowers frequently seen in the foothills between Peshastin and Wenatchee.
