Allow me to digress...
After being swept away by the incredible magnificence of Paradise Meadows at Mt. Rainier last summer, my wife and I began to talk about all the places we've been the past few years, and all of the wonderful wildflower orgies we've been lucky to find. And we began to wonder what our favorites places were. What were the best places of all?
There has been such a variety of environments, and such a variety of wildflowers, it wasn't easy coming up with a Top Ten List, but, with all due respect to David Letterman, I've done just that; my Top Ten Wildflower Places!
(I told ya, it's a little bit silly.)
It wasn't easy, and comparing spring woodlands with late summer prairies with deserts with mountain meadows really isn't fair. But what the heck...
So, without further ado, beginning with number 10, I give you ... fanfare please ... my Top Ten Wildflower Places!
10. Adams County, Ohio prairie remnants in July and August. Maybe I left this on the list because I have a soft spot for Ohio, but the Buckeye state is no slouch when it comes to nature, in spite of places like California. If there has been sufficient rainfall, the prairies in depressed, undeveloped Adams County, along the Ohio River, are incredible for prairie species. And when the wildflowers are in bloom, the butterflies are equally amazing. Wildflowers include Wingstem, Yellow Coneflower, Purple Coneflower, Green Milkweed, Whorled Milkweed, Liatris...
9. The Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina throughout the spring. Painted Trillium, Wake Robin, Pink Lady's-slippers, Puttyroot, Crested Dwarf Iris, Indian Paintbrush, Purple Fringed Orchids were just some of the treasures I found there.
8. Short Canyon, the western Mojave Desert, CA., in the spring. Like the prairies, if there has been sufficient rainfall, the desert can become a rainbow of colors. The hillside that gave the canyon its wall was covered with yellow coreopsis and orange poppies and purple and white Bajada Lupine and red Desert Paintbrush and more. More, more, more!
7. Mt. Dana, Yosemite Nat'l Park, CA., in late July/early August. This was my first true mountain meadow, and it was glorious. Tower Larkspur, Broadleaf Lupine, Giant Red Paintbrush, Swamp Onion, Arrowleaf Groundsel, Small Leopard Lilies, and Sierra Rein Orchids were some of the wildflowers growing on the mountain's slopes.
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