June 2025 Backyard Bulletin

Cover photo by Ashley Lodato.

View the full edition at this link.

The solstice is rapidly approaching and the people of the Methow Valley are drunk on a combination of sunlight and late spring warmth. May's superbloom has come and gone but, as the season marches on, I've been struck with a particular appreciation for sequential blooms in the wild. Spring's dynamism remains even as summer comes knocking at the door.

I began a recent hike by surveying the landscape in disappointment. I was pacing through a massive field of balsamroot seedheads, thinking to myself, "I wish I was here a month ago." But, as I continued my traverse through mid-elevation meadows, I began to notice various buckwheats in bloom, yarrow looking its finest, and, best of all, scarlet gilia adding a speckled splash of red to the landscape, incredibly bright and vivid. The kind of color so intense and beautiful, you can almost feel your eyes adjusting in order to take in the glory. By the end of my day, I realized I was not a month late to a balsamroot hike, I was right on time for a scarlet gilia hike. I don't have good photos to share, so your homework after reading this month's Bulletin is to find a meadow of your own and traverse it with an eye out for June's floral gems.

-Bridger Layton, Education Programs Manager