See, my darlings, you always come through! Kilian Hekhuis and Lithified Detritus were able to identify our orange clarinets as Orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa). Can you believe that for once we have a beautiful flower that is a native? Awesomesauce!
I found some down by the shores of Silver Lake this summer. B and I had just arrived as the sun was lowering in the sky, and it shone upon this lovely flowering plant, which was just short of bursting into full bloom.
This is one of my favorite photos of a flower I have ever taken. The sun was absolutely perfect.
The honeysuckle was climbing a bank with some rose bushes, and everything was budding, and it probably would have been spectacular if B and I had just come a few days later. Oh, well. It’s still quite pretty, as you can see here:
There were too many clouds that day, and they prevented us from seeing our magnificent mountain. But I can skip forward to July for you, and show you a never-before-seen panorama of her south side summit.
See the dust rising from rock falls within the crater? Can you identify the old lava flows? How gorgeous is this!
Right. Let us now leave our favorite mountain, and go attend the wedding of two of the best people in my life. My heart sister Nicole Gilbertson got married to her beloved Brandi Gilbertson this fall, and they sent me this photo of some pretty bonza botany that graced the tables at their reception.
Is that not one of the sweetest succulents you’ve ever seen? I hope it’s as fun to identify as it is to look at!
Wonderful photo. Love it. :-)
(That first one. Others are pretty good too.)
Is it me or did Mt St Helens used to have more snow cover? Is that just faulty memory or seasonal issue or something more?
It’s a succulent milkweed related to Stapelia maybe a Hoodia? There are several related genera, but nice plants to collect. Probably fly pollinated, so floral fragrance is generally unpleasant.
Found it, thanks to the clue provided by phytophactor. It’s Huernia zebrina.
A visit to Glasshouse Works has been on my to-do list for quite a while.
It did before it became a couple thousand feet shorter. At 8363 feet, it probably isn’t tall enough for permanent snowpack any more, although the crater glacier survives because of being in shadow much of the time.