Wildflower Friday!

Wildflowers are having their summer party! They all seem to bloom almost simultaneously so it's hard to appreciate each one.

One of my favorite sights every summer is Shyla galloping through a meadow of wildflowers with snow-capped mountains on the horizon. Shyla gives me the impression that she loves it too.

I enjoy both the big view of the whole meadow and the macro view of individual flowers in the riotous meadow. In some meadows, the yellow wildflowers are still dominating.

However, if you look in the understory below the yellow, some other colors are present. This is a Shooting Star wildflower was going wild in wet areas until recently. It has an odd shape that makes it look like an exploding star if you have a good imagination. This one had a beetle resting on it.

As soon as I get down low to peer underneath the yellow, I realize that the wet ground is almost covered in these brilliant flowers. They are a favorite of mine.

On the edges of meadows, chokecherry bushes recently blossomed. The tiny flowers are arranged in a cone that reaches up toward the sky. I love the sight of these flowers against the blue sky. When you get close to a chokecherry bush, the buzz of bees is loud! The bees seem to adore these flowers. I hope that the bees are doing a good job of pollinating them because the chokecherry fruit is a staple of our bears as they fatten up for the winter.

Another tiny gem as beautiful as each chokecherry flower is the hummingbird. They are so full of life at this time of year. They join me for breakfast each morning, and I alternate between sipping my coffee and snapping photos of them. I know that it is truly summer when the hummers and I have breakfast on the deck together!

I bet that you know what this shadow is! 

Thanks to the Gang at LLB for hosting Flower Friday.