The Fiery Countdown Begins

The fireweed are in bloom all over the place, huge patches of it in the valleys and half way up the mountains.  Everywhere you look, there are fields of magenta spikes.

When the blossoms open to the top of the stalk, up to 80,000 cottony seeds per plant loft through the air on the slightest of  breezes.

Photo taken 2011

They also spread underground, through a maze of roots, making them almost impossible to eradicate from a garden of flower beds.

Photo from 2011

I have a love/hate relationship with fireweed.   I love their fiery blossoms and their prolific growth.  Yet, I watch them anxiously, for when those lovely blooms reach the top of the stalk and the cotton starts, it's all downhill to winter.

Folk lore says six weeks from "topping out" to winter.  It's like watching a train wreck-- you can't look away.