One good thing about all this cold rain is that the June Flowers have thrived.  Very often they are just a flash in the pan that shrivels quickly in the heat.  These displays occur in comparatively bare patches amongst the overall green.  The tall blue flowers are the Small-flowered Penstemon.  The white and pinkish ones are Field Pussytoes and, you’ve guessed it, Pink Pussy Toes.  Below we have Golden Agoseris, sometimes called False Dandelion.Another penstemon, with much larger flowers grows in clumps on cliffs or in stony ground.  Richardson’s Penstemon.  There is a healthy display around the Kleena Kleene post office.  But it is not doing well this year.  It doesn’t like the rain.Nor does the Silky Phacelia.  It was beaten to bits almost as soon as it bloomed.The Silver-leafed Butterweed, however, is thriving this year.The Cut-leafed Anemone is performing as per usual.The Early Purple Violets have hung on much later than normal.Yarrow is abundant,And even the fireweed is starting to bloom – a month before it should.And of course the king of colour is the Common Red Paintbrush, unfortunately just in small, scattered clumps in this area.The aspens behind the paintbrush already have a silvery cast because of the very active leaf miners.  Their dining habit s never fail to intrigue me.The Lodgepole Pines are blooming.The rain beat all their copious pollen into the puddles.

The Wild Roses are struggling.The Grasses are enjoying the rain.The Dandelion seed has been pounded into the ground.