Wasatch Wildflower Festival

Saffy, Miles and Ian joined me early Saturday morning so we could go to the Wasatch Wildflower Festival at Albion Basin. 

It was fun because we got the same guide as last year.  I was excited to identify several varieties that I had been wondering about. Last night I was able to correctly label four plants from a previous blog post.

We all had a good time and barely noticed the rain.  Saffy was a great little hiker and Miles and Ian are getting quite good at flower identification. 

Larkspur, Delphinium nutallianum

Sticky geranium, Geranium viscosissimum; blue flax, Linum lewisii and Engelmann's aster, Aster engelmannii

Indian paintbrush, Castilleja spp.

Pearly everlasting,  Anaphalis margaritacea

Sticky geranium, blue flax, little sunflower with sulphur buckwheat, Erigonum umbellatum

False hellebore or corn lily; Veratrum californicum

Beautiful meadow

Wasatch Wildflower Festival

Warning: this post contains lots of boring flower pictures and their corresponding boring scientific Latin names.  

I took the day off Friday and took Miles and Ian to the Wasatch Wildflower Festival.  We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon in the morning and parked at the base of Brighton Ski Resort.  The volunteers were all excited when we arrived because we were the first ones of the day.  We had our own private guide take us on a hike and show us all the wildflowers.  It was overcast and we had a few light rain showers, but it was a great respite from the desert valley heat.

In this picture the white flowers are Richardson's geranium (Geranium richardsonii), the black ones are western coneflower (Rudbeckia occidentalis), the red ones are Indian paintbrush (Castilleja spp), the purple ones are monkshood (Aconitum columbianum), the yellow ones are groundsel (Senecio spp) and the big white one is  false hellebore (Veratrum viride).

 This is native Utah bush is twinberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata).

If you look closely at this flower it looks like a bunch of elephant heads on a stick, thus the common name of elephant heads (Pedicularis groenlandica).  It grows in wet marshes and along streams.

We saw lots of these plants last week in Millcreek Canyon, but they weren't in bloom and we couldn't figure out what they were.  Our guide told us these are false hellebore (Veratrum viride).

It was raining earlier in the morning and everything was wet.  All the volunteers had jackets and long pants and we felt a little unprepared in our shorts and t-shirts.  But we only got a few sprinkles and the day turned out really nice.  I liked this arrangement of monkshood or wolf's bane (Acontium columbianum) with paintbrush (Castilleja spp).  There are lots of varieties of paintbrush and they mingle between each other so I'm not sure which ones these are.  Painbrush are interesting because they are semi-parasitic and their colors may change depending upon the host plant.

I was excited to see a white version of Monkshood.  We had never seen one before.

We saw these beautiful pink Lewis monkey flowers (Mimulus lewisii) growing out of a rivulet. 

There is a lot of variety of buckwheat or sulphur flowers (Eriogonum spp.) growing up there.  

Ian and Miles were great hiking buddies.  Miles took most of the photos (at least the ones that turned out).

We enjoyed this patch of fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) growing near the top of the trail.  After the big Yellowstone fires in 1988 fireweed was the first plant to appear and start to stabilize the soil. 

We saw this American pika scurrying back and forth between boulders, he was carrying little branches of leaves and grass onto a pile on a boulder.  

Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) has nice little white flowers which last for a long time (thus the name).  This is a flower I've enjoyed growing in my own garden.

I was really excited to find this flower, Monardella odoratissima, which is also known as mountain coyote mint, mountain beebalm, and mountain pennyroyal.  When you touch the leaves, your fingers are left with a wonderful mint smell.

Here is a closeup of the blooms.

The sky mostly cleared up when we got up to Lake Mary.  It was so nice to be outdoors and the lake is just stunning.

 We took a break on a boulder and enjoyed the view.  We had trail mix for a snack and soon we were accosted by a scurry of cheeky chubby chipmunks.  They ran all over trying to get our food.  They were hilarious to watch.

 On our way back down we saw some yellow monkey flower (Mimulus guttatus).

This is the approximate site of the fateful ski accident of 2009.  I don't think I've been up here since then.

 There were a few patches of Rocky Mountain penstemons (Penstemon strictus) near the base of the mountain.

We were driving down the mountain when on a whim we decided to take Guardsman Pass over the mountain.  The road was very steep and very rough in places, but we were rewarded by some awesome views of the mountains and valleys below.  We were glad we took it.  It felt like we were on a mini vacation in a remote forest.  

We ended up in Midway and we went and saw the crater.  Miles and Ian's have great-great grandparents who immigrated to Midway from Switerland which makes them 1/8 Swiss.  They have a little grocery store there called "The Store" that has a built in deli and pizza place.  We ordered a delicious pesto mushroom and spinach pie.  It was an excellent finish to a very fun outing.

The Living Room Part Two

Ian and I went hiking last week to The Living Room, but we ran out of steam before the summit.  Yesterday we went back to try it again and this time we were victorious!

We saw lots of these lovely flowers.  I'm still trying to figure out what they are. I've been consulting my native plant books, but I haven't found them yet.

It was somewhat overcast so it wasn't too hot.  This is the view facing the U of U campus.

This is facing the south of the valley.  We could see all the way from the point of the mountain to the Great Salt Lake.

We were encouraged on how much better we did this week.  We went much further before we had to take a break and it seemed easier.

The view was beautiful; very stunning.  We could faintly hear music from Red Butte Garden below where someone had a wedding reception.  The sounds of traffic were very distant and it was peaceful up there.

It is called the Living Room because someone built all these great armchairs and couches out of slabs of sandstone.  We were very happy to have made it this time, and we lounged and enjoyed the sunset with the other hikers.

Ian likes to wear my favorite hat so I took my gardening hat.  It's great to keep the sun off me, but Melinda thinks I looks silly in it (she's probably right, like always).

I think that this flower is a thread-leafed daisy.  It's hard to be sure, but I think it's probably Erigeron filifolius. There were many of these growing in the cracks of the rocks.

We felt great after a little rest and we had a very pleasant walk down the mountain.  The valley was very pretty with the sun low in the sky.

We're trying to decide about next weeks hike.  I'm thinking we should check out Millcreek Canyon.

Back to the Butte

For many years we maintained a family membership to Red Butte Garden.  We haven't had one for the last two or three years, but Monday night we joined up again.

We read that the Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band were playing for family night, so we thought we'd check it out.

They were great!  We enjoyed the stirring rendition of Amazing Grace.  They talked about the history of bagpipes and tartans and they took audience questions.  They were very personable.

Melinda saw one of her home school friends there.  Their family makes kettle corn for events.  It was excellent, salty, sweet and very tasty!

Saffy and Nigel had fun marching in the fountain to the sound of bagpipes.

The kids loved playing on these lizards when they were small.  It's funny how things don't seem as big as they once did as you grow up.

We had forgotten how much we loved to walk the paths and enjoy the foliage and flowers.  Nigel discovered the children's garden and was in heaven running around among the plants. Saffy and Nigel had fun hiding under this tree.

We enjoyed seeing how much the garden has grown since we started going many years ago.  The trees are more mature, there is more plant diversity, and they have developed new areas.  We will definitely be going back again soon.  

Here is the schedule for their family nights in July:

MONDAY, JULY 9 - Capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art)

MONDAY, JULY 16 - Bien Flamenco

MONDAY, JULY 23 - Kenshin Taiko

Beautiful Garden Thugs

In one of my favorite gardening books,The Undaunted Garden, Lauren Springer refers to Epilobium angustifolium, or fireweed, as a “beautiful rose-purple thug.”  Fireweed is known to be invasive, but I’ve put it in rather difficult little spot in the back, and so far it hasn’t proven too bad.  It is such a beautiful flower, and I have such great memories of seeing it all over in Yellowstone, Alaska, and in the Utah mountains.  My garden seems to be rather Darwinian anyway, so at least for now it stays. My mom even made jelly out of the flowers while my parents were still living in Alaska, and it was quite delicious. 



Below is a picture of a type of pincushion flower named Knautia macedonica.  I have had to pull these out in massive clumps because their prodigious reproductive behavior.  These flowers would truly take over everything if I let them.  But they are so beautiful that I put up with prolific ways. The original ones I planted were the deep purple-magenta color, but they have also spawned some lovely pink-melon colored flowers as well.



Here they are all together in my back yard, fighting it out for garden supremacy.

Mock Orange Juice

Does anyone remember the mock turtle from Alice in Wonderland?  Well, this is the same pun reversed.

Several years ago we bought a mock orange shrub, Philadelphus lewisii, and planted it next to the fence in the backyard.  I must admit the main reason for planting it was for a little more privacy from the neighbors.  If you are in the market for a shrubbery, you might want to consider a mock orange.  It has a wonderful, gentle citrus fragrance and it is breathtaking when in bloom.  It sadly doesn’t bloom for very long, but it’s pretty amazing when it does.  It is also native to this region so it does really well.  Just ask the Idahoans, it's their state flower.

This picture was taken just after the peak bloom time.



Here is a close-up of the blooms.



Here is a scratch n’ sniff so you can smell it.



Remember, if you have a old CRT tube monitor you need to scratch it, but if you have an LCD monitor you need to rub it in a circular motion to release the scent.



















Just kidding.  I always wanted to do that.

The Joy of Night Stock

I’m so happy and excited that my Evening Stocks are now in bloom!  It’s not even officially summer and they are already out in force.  These are one of my all time favorite flowers, and they bloom almost all summer.



Several years ago I took a seed starting class at Red Butte Gardens. It was a lot of fun, but the best part was all the new flowers I was introduced to.  One of my favorites was a lovely annual called Stock or Matthiola.  It is a lovely flower and it has a wonderfully intoxicating scent, heady and sweet and never cloying.  I’m always disappointed when I can’t find Stocks in the garden stores.  That’s one of the best reasons to start seeds; to start plants that are hard to find.

In the Matthiola family there is a variety named Matthiola longipetala which blooms at night.  It is now one of my very favorites (yes, I have a lot of favorites but that is another topic).  I started these from seeds one year and planted them in a couple of spots.  Much to my delight these lovely annuals self-sowed with abandon and they come back every year without fail.  I keep a spot open for them in my annual garden where they grace it with their delicate white and lavender-pink blooms.  I also enjoy seeing how a few of them inevitably weave their way amongst the the perennials in my back flower border.

The thing I love most about them, though, is their lovely scent.  I love sitting in the backyard in the summer, when it starts to cool.  Every evening they put out new blossoms and fill the air with their sweet perfume.  Yesterday I could even smell them from the front yard.  I’m in the house writing now but I just opened the window and a cool breeze just brought their wonderful aroma inside.  I count them as one of the simple, joyful pleasures of life.