posted: Feb 28, 2009

Defying snow, ice, wind, and freezing temperatures, our earliest spring flowers are starting to show. We found 2 buttercups (Ranunculus glaberrimus) blooming on the top of Paradise Ridge after snowshoeing up the still snowy eastern slope.



After several months of gray Palouse days the bright yellow petals of the buttercup are a welcome sight. Another harbinger of spring, the grass widow (Sisyrinchium inflatum) pictured below, is poking its way through the snow and will be blooming in no time. Here’s to sunny green days ahead!