Wildflowers of Big Summit Prairie

Hiking with wild flower enthusiasts just might be an oxymoron. How much exercise can you get if the flowers are abundant, your companions are determined identifiers, AND you can find dozens of different species in 20 square feet in a ditch next to the main road through Big Summit Prairie? Carpets of White and Yellow Wyethia were intermixed with Meadow Larkspur and Indian Paintbrush. It looked like fields of short sunflowers so bright that we were dazzled without slowing down the car.
When we did get some walking in (with noses in the fieldbooks) the micro climates displayed ever changing floral arrangements; Dryland Lupine with Desert Parsley and Pussytoes, Camas with Meadow Larkspur and Prairie Stars. Such an amazing show of nature! It made us all want to add wildflowers to our own gardens.

These Central Oregon Natives are happy and adapt well to garden settings---

For dryland or low water areas: Pussytoes (Antennaria rosea) Oregon Sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum) Sedum oreganum, Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum)
Rocky Mt. Penstemon (P. stricus)
Moderate water gardens: Lewis' Monkey Flower (Mimulus lewisii), Blue Eyed Grass(Sisyrichium idahoense), Prairie Smoke flower (Geum triflorum)
For naturalizing : Blue Flax (Linum perenne) , Scarlet Gillia (Ipomopsis aggregata), Orange
Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea munroana)