Tag: Rocky Mountains
Wild Fires Across Wyoming
As of today, July 5, according to the Fire Incident Information System website, there are four major, active fires in Wyoming. Here in Casper, we were greeted this morning with a nice little rain. Apparently the firefighters down in Fox Park and Sheep Mountain west of Laramie also experienced some light rain and cooler temperatures…
Colorado Wildfire Smoke Finds Us
Today was the first day of breathing smoke from the Colorado fires. My guess -the source is the High Park fire about 220 miles from here (Casper, Wyoming), now estimated at over 87,000 acres. The smoke gives the sky an eerie yellow cast. I remember 1988, my first year in Wyoming, standing on a high-ish…
Ready for Take Off
These seeds are ready for take off. As kids we all enjoyed the Dandelions in the yard. How magical it was to blow on the seed heads and watch the little parachutes take flight. As an adult I am amazed at the perfection of design of this family of flowers commonly called Composites, of the…
Penstemons I Have Known
In my last post I documented a few Penstemons I have successfully grown in my home landscape. As I hike the local area I have come across some other Penstemon species native to Central Wyoming and the Bighorn Mountains. I’d like to share a few photos. The Penstemon genus is quite varied, but the tubular…
Penstemons I Have Grown
The world of Wyoming Penstemons is a whirlwind of pinks, purples, and blues. They intrigue me because they grow and blossom in some of the most inhospitable soils Wyoming can dish out; sand, rock, clay, windswept hillsides, fully exposed southern faces. Their ability to beautify the extremely inhospitable is always a wonderful surprise, and they…
Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium
Chamerion angustifolium, commonly called Fireweed, since it is an early colonizer after wildfires, is found across North America in all but the southeastern U.S. Its native range includes a wide range of average annual precipitation, so it should do well in the moderately watered home garden or landscape. Fireweed flowers are a brilliant magenta to…
April Showers in Wyoming
At 5000 plus feet, April showers often come in heavy white crystalline form. This may be our last snow of the season, so I took a quick dash out to get a shot of the mountain as the clouds were lifting. Spring snows are very important to the ecology of Wyoming. The snows of Feb-April…
Native Flowering Shrub for Western Landscapes
Fellow western blogger Big Sky Ken, made a stop at Ayers Natural Bridge and posted his photos. The post reminded me of my stop there in July when the Holodiscus dumosus was in full bloom. Ocean Spray is a native Wyoming shrub that deserves much more attention and development for the landscaping market. It is…
Troubadour of Spring
It’s usually around the 15th of March that I hear my first Western Meadowlark of the year. The bright yellow male bird is often seen sitting on a fence post singing his song of spring. It’s a lovely sound, described as watery, warbly, flute-like. Some say the Meadowlark is crying, “Please pass the salt and…
Saint Patricks Trivia and Gardening in the West
A very successful non-native species often seen in Wyoming and arid gardens is Artemisia ‘Powis Castle.’ It probably originated in the Mediterranean region, but it became popular when it was planted at Powis Castle in Wales, Wales being one of the leading best guesses for the birth place of St. Patrick. Powis Castle is a…
National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming
Although I’ve been through Jackson Hole multiple times, I’ve never visited the National Elk Refuge just north of town. The National Elk Refuge is one of 553 refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There is good evidence that elk once ranged all across North America, inhabiting forests, river valleys, the prairies and…
Wyoming Life 