Washington Trails Association has the following new wildflower updates:
Cowiche Canyon — Apr 20, 2013 — Eastern Washington — Yakima
Cowiche Canyon is easy access, easy travel, and really pleasant. The trail rambles along a flat grade ….The Conservancy has done a really great job labeling plants- even noxious weeds (although they don’t note they’re weeds) for plant i.d. And the plants are beautiful: red osier dogwood, just beginning to unfold leaves, has coloreful twigs that glow red and orange in the sun. The snow-white flowers of serviceberry explode like the stars of the Milky Way on an inky night against a backdrop of dark basalt. Fern-leaf desert parsley flowers spray out chocolatey maroon tips that complement the lacy blue-green foliage. Even last year’s seed heads are pretty.
I walked the upland trail as well- worth doing this to see the flower species change from the canyon, as well as to get views into the canyon. Phlox, violet, and larkspur were blooming, along with a blue flower I couldn’t identify. Buckwheat flower tips are just starting to show color.Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve — Apr 20, 2013 — South Cascades — Columbia Gorge
drove up and parked at the gate at Dalles Mountain Rd (one on the left side at the junction). Hills at the park looked yellow from distance due to balsamroot flowers and some desert parsley. Lupines were blooming around 8,00 feet and lower. Balsamroots were in full bloom up to about 2,800 feet and then there were some phloxes and Indian paintbrushes near top of the hills. I would guess that lupine flowers would be up to 2,400 feet by next Saturday.
Natural History Wanderings 
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