The wildflowers here on Mt. Rainier are very impressive. Otherwise, I would say NOT. I would guess you've never been to Texas in the spring, the roadsides are a riot of color- Texas Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, Evening Primroses, etc.

lol, nope hemnancy, have not been to TX in spring. Have traveled precious little, and pretty much my only point of reference are Missouri and Kansas highways which sport pale clovers, a gangly lavender-blue bachelor-button looking thing, and thistle right now. Later we will get those multibranched sunflowers. So compared to what I have, what I saw was fabulous. We saw Mt. Ranier in the distance from I-5 north in Olympia at a couple of points. I caught one picture of it... it looked good from a distance, I can only imagine what it's like up close. Maybe someday we'll stop there. :-)

Perhaps it was this flower?

Here is a link that might be useful:

The moutains around Grant's pass are lovely. I drove through once in fall when the deciduous trees were golden and gleaming under swirls of mist, lonely and enchanting. I've never gotten to stop there to look at the wildflowers. I suppose they might have some alpine stuff, along with other mountains around the state. We used to drive up Mt. Estes in Colorado to look at the alpine plants. There is such a variety, mostly in miniature, all crowded together but in harmony with no weeds.

I've gotta say the desert in bloom IS much more impressive.

Joshua Tree National Park is famous for wildflowers. I grew up in Phoenix and the variety there is huge too. Much more than here.

I've always wanted to see the bluebonnets in bloom in Texas too.

jayk, that's it!!!

I'm glad I saved it now, I'll be growing that here if it'll come up for me. The link was forbidden to me, but I googled the name in it and found the link below with a lot of good information about the plant and that's certainly it, and explains why I never saw a flower - it's aka Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. :-)

The fuscia stuff I saw growing all along Hwy 101 and 1 could have been alpine-esque - it was chilly no doubt (note to self for next time, don't expect to go swimming in north CA and OR coastal waters in June, lol), but at 60 mph it was hard to tell. It was pretty to me nonetheless. To be honest, I'm a plant neophyte and anything I don't see regularly is fascinating.

:-)

Terri

Here is a link that might be useful: Another link to goatsbeard/T. pratensis

Forgot my manners in my haste. (blush)

Terri

Maybe you will move to Grants Pass.

We're selling in Applegate Valley to its south, to move to Beaverton, where I'll fare best for my niche in business. But I enjoyed our two years here.

I drove to Grants Pass last week to make a short video of the drive and a few sights to add to my Applegate Valley web page, along with the other videos.

Grants Pass has shaped-up very nicely since the 80s, and would be my first choice of a city to live in if we were ever to live in southern Oregon again.

I got some nice photos or the wildflowers around here this year too, from Brookings to the Rogue River National Forest.

The highway to Brookings, through northern California and the redwoods, has one of the better wildflower displays I've seen in the wild - Rhododendron, azalea, iris, trillium, etc., etc..

Fuchsia colored stuff along the road in clearings could be Fireweed.

Here is a link that might be useful: fireweed

For the last month or so I've been noticing a deep purple flower growing along the sides of I-405 from Renton to Bellevue. It looks like it's about 12" or 24" tall, with flower spikes like a Veronica or Salvia 'May Night'. Is that a native wildflower?

The purple spiky stuff along 405 is probably a lupine. Some are native, but the showier ones are not native here. They come from 'native' wildflower mixes that use primarily prairie species from the midwest, and a few of the more adaptable California species like CA poppy. You want a spectacular wildflower show, you can't beat wild California in the spring.

Kansas and Missouri should also have spectacular wildflowers, what with all the prairie species native there, but I guess it's all been plowed up and paved over ...

Tiny multibranched yellow things along the highways could have been cat's ears, which are a nasty invasive weed ... aka summer dandelions. I guess it's true, one person's weed is another one's wildflower.