Setting Fire to the Rain

When Adele sang Set Fire to the Rain, I'm pretty sure she wasn't singing about the weather. But the title seemed appropriate. After a week of absolutely fabulous spring weather, the forecast for the next week is rain and wind. Not to be deterred by a little inclement weather I headed out to set my own fire to the rain and enjoy the beauty of Yellow Island on this overcast, sometimes misty, drippy day that will be remembered as the day we couldn't see the annular eclipse.

The meadow is definitely fading but is still covered in flowers with more subtle colors; the faded reds of paintbrush (Castilleja hispida) and muted yellows of desert parsley (Lomatium nudicale) represent the valley between flower peaks two and three. From the top of Hummingbird Hill looking east,south and west, the scene is similar to the photo below.

Closeups of this combination are also very nice.

Camas and buttercups are mostly gone but the final burst of color will come from the bright yellow stoncrops (Sedum spathulifolium) on the rocks, the even brighter yellow of Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum) plus the white and sometimes pink of yarrow (Achillea millefolium).

Broadleaf stonecrop has been blooming for over a week but has yet to reach its peak. The rocks are covered in lichens, mosses and sedums that will only get more colorful over the next week.

With the breeze today stonecrop is a good plant to photograph because it doesn't blow around too much in the wind. Plus it is probably my second favorite flower to photograph after shooting stars. The following are a few groupings that caught my eye.

And finally, Douglas firs invading the meadow are usually pulled immediately after being found. But this one on the rocks with mosses, lichens, fescue and sedums will most likely be thinned by Mother Nature.

Almost forgot to mention that the roses (Rosa nutkana) started blooming this week. Just another reason to go out in the rain.

As my friends at NCI say to their students, there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. Get out and enjoy!