Pictures for Pam, Day 149: Scarlet Fritillary Blossom

(+6 insets!)

My goodness but the trees were brimming with singing birdies this morning! Twitter, tweet, beep, cheep, peep, trill, call! And in the distance, HONK-HONKs from Canada Geese and CAW-CAW from crows and ravens, and the cry of Red-Tailed Hawks were heard over the hills. My my. All was covered with raindrops from last night and dew coated everything else. The air wasn't too cold and overhead the storm clouds were drifting in diaphanous wisps towards us. It will rain soon but I got my walk in before the drops began to fall.

Yesterday I mentioned that I made some wonderful discoveries up on the hillside…and indeed I did! But first, a short story…

All the way back in March of 2012, I was exploring our ridgeline for flowers and plants that don't grow in our meadows or lower forest. I found it fascinating to discover that our 26 acres had a microcosm of its own. Our hill rises steeply to the ridge and the difference in elevation between the land down by the front gate and at the top of the ridge is quite a lot, and it's enough that some plants are found in only some places.

As I walked along, I noticed an unusual stalk of flower buds growing at the side of the trail. I kept an eye on them over the next couple of weeks and took pictures when it appeared they would be opening soon. Late one afternoon I saw that finally it was about ready and one petal had curled back. Enough to confirm that it was a Scarlet Fritillary! I was so excited but I'd have to wait until the next day before it was completely open.

The next morning I fairly raced up the hill and arrived at...the place the flower USED to be. *sagging shoulders* Something had come by and eaten the whole plant, leaves and all. I was so disappointed. Every year after that I checked to see if another flower had popped up but no, I didn't find any more. Sad Janet is sad.

Wind the clock forward to yesterday...

I went up the hill on my search for trees that might work for the Saturday Self-Challenge. I won't lie. I really wasn't in the mood to climb up there. However, I knew it would be a good idea to see how the hillside was recovering from the wildfire that swept up our hill a couple of years ago. Were there flowers everywhere? I convinced myself to go and up I went.

Immediately I was rewarded by flowers everywhere! The hillside was dotted with purple from Henderson's Shooting Stars. Then I saw a flash of yellow. "OH!!" I exclaimed. "MULE EARS!!" The outrageous golden blossoms which look like miniature sunflowers were growing in thick clumps all over the place...WHAT A SHOW! They are so stunning and I lost myself taking pictures of these showy flowers. (Sorry, no pictures to show today! They want their own spotlight!)

Then I began hunting for Henderson's Fawn Lillies, our most elegant blossoms and a most treasured flower to me. Small and growing low to the ground, these pastel lavender flowers will stop your heart with their incredible beauty. Scanning as I climbed, I suddenly burst out with, "THERE!" I spotted one nestled in some grass...and then another! Here and there, as I rose to the top of the hill, I found lots of the little Cinderellas and did my best contortions to get images from down low so their lovely faces could be seen. How lucky we are to have such a breathtaking flower growing wild here! (Sorry, no pictures of them today either! They refuse to leave the dressing room unless they get first billing!)

At the top of the hill I stared up at the dead trunk and branches of my majestic Madrone friend and then back down at the incredible vibrant growth—much taller than me now—circling its base. This tree had burned in our wildfire and broke my heart because I thought it had died. It had not. Seeing it recovering and growing larger each season eases my pain of its loss and instead fills me with joy to see it doing so well.

Skirting the Madrone, a flash of red just a few feet away stopped me in my tracks.

I screamed in excitement, "A SCARLET FRITILLARY!!!" I could hardly believe my eyes. Two buds, just about to open! I looked past them and...AN OPEN ONE WITH A BUD! And...ANOTHER FLOWER AND BUD!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I was so excited I hardly knew what to do with myself. Oh yeah...TAKE PICTURES!!!! I forgot about trees. I forgot about the Madrone. I forgot about the recovering hillside and I forgot about the fire. All I saw were those amazing flowers. They are so incredible!!

At some point I was satisfied and decided to walk over to one of the fence lines and then take some pictures of trees on the way back. I kept my eyes open for more Fritillaries and I found three more! In fact, my main picture is one of them and the insets feature the others! (I would discover later that all of the flowers near the Madrone had been damaged by insects. The flowers I'm sharing today were all perfect!

I hope you enjoy my triumphant finds—I'm so delighted that I found them! In fact, I feel like these special flowers were a reward for going up on the hill when I wasn't in the mood. And for that matter, the entire floral show was such a great experience for me...I'm happy that I made the effort and listened to the voice in my head that told me I really did need to go up there. :)

Pamy, since these flowers are so red and lovely, I did a search on your stream for "Red" and found your gorgeous Amaryllis Collage! Oh my, aren't they just incredible!! Your pictures are fantastic and perfect, how wonderful that you had a plant for the holidays! I am hoping that you are doing well on this very rainy day! I'm thinking of you and wish that we could have been there together to discover those lovely flowers together! *BIG HUGS*

Explored on 4/8/19, highest placement, #1.