My Obsession with Wildflowers

Before photography had gone digital, and as I approached my 1991 retirement, I was a member of seven local camera clubs where monthly competitions were held for both slides and prints in four different subject areas: Pictorial, Nature, Travel, and Photojournalism. The various clubs sponsored weekend field trips and week-long field trips as well as quarterly competitions; this took place in four different camera club councils, and I was an active member in two councils. Even the various club councils rotated in sponsoring yearly "fotoclaves" to both entertain and advance the photographic skills of attendees. I was totally captivated by this art form, and I wanted to become very expressive and skilled at it; therefore, the more camera clubs, the more critiques per month. One critique per month just wasn't going to do it. This was so much fun for the last six years of my "employed" life that I began looking forward to the increased amount of time I'd soon have to devote to this growing obsession of mine. But it wasn't going to be in more camera club competition.

Of course, I was already doing considerable study on when and where to look for wildflowers in my State of California. And here it is possible to follow the bloom for six to seven months of the year-just change your latitude or change your altituide. I was happy to incorporate some travel into any vacation or available "free" days.

February was the month to go to Death Valley for the Panamint Daisy (Encelliopsis covillei), and to Anza Borrego State Park for desert lilies (Hypercallis undulata) and fairly dusters (Calliandra eriophylla ), always checking on other areas enroute. March could be Joshua Tree National Park, San Mateo County coastal areas for woodland flowers, my nearby Edgewood Preserve, and Marin if you could squeeze it all in. In April it was like a race to get to all the hotspots (always checking the hotlines). . . . .

I would never miss a trip or two to the Sierra foothills, and I scouted and led a trip there three consecutive years. I aimed for the National Parks in the Sierras, up to the 4,000 feet elevation, by June. Table Mountain in Butte County always had a great spring show. If the rainfall had been ample, with no freezes, the Carrizo Plains could be spectacular. Butterfly Valley near Quincy was always a winner. And then there was Bear Valley (west of the farming town of Williams in Colusa County)--what a treasure!

For the summer months I was ever mindful of the creep of the wildflower bloom upwards to treeline around August. The higher the altitude, the later the bloom! Doing as much as possible in other states was ever on my mind, studying and researching on any tip. My list of times and locations of wildflower hotspots was a long one, and it had grown so long that it could not all be done in one wildflower year.

Reviewing all my photographs. I had more shots of wildflowers than any other subject. During the same period I had become a member of the California Native Plant Society, and my interest also grew in understanding plant families and learning plants' scientific binomial identities. With each new field trip, I would soak up the plant locations and info and either stay over or return later to make my photographs. My studies and critiques over this six-year period had served me very well for my photos typically demonstrated both the beauty and the essential characteristics of the flower. Both artists and botanists were attracted to my work.

All of the foregoing led to my decision about my retirement. I would again see the pink monkeyflowers enmasse (Mimulus nanus) covering the lava beds at Craters of the Moon. I would concentrate on photographing wildflowers as I traveled the Western States--up and down, over and across, and back again-for about seven months of each year. My "wildflower season" would begin in February and last until about the end of August. .

For gear, I had a Canon T-90 35 mm camera, a 200 mm macro lens various additional lenses, a large beach umbrella to keep my subject and background in shade, and a very strong tripod. I would add maps, guide books, atlases, my previously-gained knowledge of "hotspots" about the West, a list of "hotline" telephone numbers, and a moderately large ice chest. My vehicle then was an '84 VW Vanagon, made self-contained. I would be ready to travel. From my slides, I selected 40 wildflower images, had prints made, and turned these into notecards to take with me to see how they were received as I traveled. My birthday was June 4, and this would be my last day of work.

No matter that this came right in the middle of my wildflower season! I was ready to wind up the last of my June hotspots locally and then head for Glacier National Park. Not always, but usually, my route was to head toward Reno and then take Highway 80/95 which would than take me north into eastern Oregon and the Owyhee area of Idaho. An interesting flower that I found in the Owyhee was the narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis)-and now growing in my yard.

Before proceeding to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, there were always a few days' stopover at Craters of the Moon National Monument. The masses of white bitterroot (Lewisia rediveva) growing out of the black lava flows seemed to be in competition for beauty with the masses of pink dwarf monkey flower--which presented a challenge to photograph. Spotting a nest of mountain bluebirds here was always an added delight. A meal at a favorite natural food restaurant in Ketchum! A little time in the Wood River area and then I would move on to the SNRA with its jagged mountains and gentle valleys-gorgeous in summers but undoubtedly harsh in winters. The highway north follows one fork of the Salmon River--a floatboaters paradise-and a beautiful drive. A blue penstemon (Penstemon cyaneus) on the banks here always demanded a few shots

Every trip to Montana, especially to Glacier NP, added more wildflower photos to my collection than any other spot--some only recently identified, many still unidentified. Montana's state flower, the bitterroot, was photographed in Yellowstone and in the National Bison Range as well as along Red Hills Road in California--here ever a lovely pink flower. . . . .Perhaps I have especially savored the beauty in Montana because it is my native state. From the tiny violets introduced to me on a Montana prairie by my third grade teacher to the mountain ladyslipper (Cypripedium montanum) which I found many years later by Crystal Lake, I give thanks to my teacher.

The next most floriferous place was Alaska. For me, Alaska claimed an entire summer--my leaving California the end of May and returning mid August. My van went on the ferry in Bellingham; two stopovers on the way to Haines; two stopovers on the return to Prince Rupert; stories to fill a book; 100 rolls of exposed 35 mm., 36-exposure slide film--wildflowers and wildlife; only two motel stays total. My Alaska trip was preceded by a trip to the hill country in Texas in April. . .Natural sights are ever high on my list; so Western National Parks were always on my list, even if I had been there many times before. There were two trips to Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona and one to the Desert Botanic Garden in Tucson. I spent some time in Olympia National Park and a day at Hurricane Ridge. My trip down the Beartooth Scenic Byway--from a lush forest ecosystem to alpine tundra--was so breathtakingly beautiful that I had to do it again another year. Charles Kuralt's designation here as "the most beautiful drive in America" is right on the mark. The wildflowers were there, but the breezes made photography too difficult. However, at the end of the trip--actually in Yellowstone NP-I came upon a lush stand of green gentian (Swertia radiata). . . . Wyoming's highlights were the Wind River Range and the Grand Tetons.

I filled three of the early weeks of my retirement with participation in three Elderhostels, and my notecards were well received throughout my travels. So I have turned more and more of my photos into notecards. I began a class in calligraphy to use for my labeling. I presented my work for sale at the next CNPS wildflower show, and after that I also became a vendor at several CNPS chapter plant sales as well as at my local senior bazaar. When I could no longer travel, I began growing many wildflowers in my back yard. This began after my one trip to the Midwest was a general failure--because of tornadoes and car problems. I especially used my garden to grow seeds of the lily genus Calochortus, to be able to experience those species I had not been able to find in the wild. Weed's mariposa (Calochortus weedii weedii) is a fine example. For most of these seeds this meant 3-4 years minimum to make a bulb that would flower. Today I have probably 300-400 wildflower images. My major interest was, and continues to be, to share my work with others. Wildflowers have been a wonderful obsession for me.