Near Juniper Butte, on the way to Madras.
This is blooming, and i should know what it is but don't, think it is the sage.
And these were blooming near the Crooked River Canyon, only in one little space and looked really spacey... I know, but that is what they looked like, Have seen then at Craters of the Moon in Idaho also.
Love old fences and wonder at the people/guys (don't think alot of women did this job) that made these fences, posts, barbed wire. Our way of sectioning off what is mine and what is yours. It was also terribly smokey too, Could not see the mountains or would have some pics of those too. This is the back way to where mom & dad had a little ranch in Culver and i like to go past there and see what is going on. Dad fenced that 80 acres by himself, with help from my brothers now and then and had a battle against the bitter brush, he would go out on the week ends and hoe/hack out huge bushes, pile and burn. (worked during the week as a log truck driver) It is amazing how many MORE juniper trees there are now. Hundreds of them, way taller than i am already, It was more dry and no trees, pretty flat when they lived there, but the trees are everywhere, truly, the Juniper is a weed. Mom always said that the only way they grew was the seed being pooped out by a bird, that is why u see so many along fence lines :) But she did love the old gnarled trees. Don't know what they would have thought about all these new ones.It was a good drive with me and my little Luci.
Take care all and God Bless
That is rabbitbrush, Loree. Likes the same environment as the sage but doesn't have the smell. Chrysothamnus nauseosus or something or other maybe nauseum. Great great photos of the high desert.
ReplyDeleteJuniper encroaching on grasslands. A big deal in this part of the west. The junipers actually use up a ton of the water that would normally go to the grasses, so you see fewer rich perennial grasses where the junipers have taken over. We have maps in my soil survey office showing just how dramatic this takeover has become. Again, no grass fires means the juniper wins. We suppress the fires, then of course some (not all !) ranchers overgraze and wham. Juniper.
ReplyDeleteWell, everybody else seems to know what these are but I just see the beautiful desert.
ReplyDeleteThey were fighting the junipers at Malheur NWR when I was there last fall. By the way, is that where your Wordless Wednesday shot came from?
ReplyDeleteDry, but yet flowers in bloom. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt is Rabbitbrush and boy am I ever allergic to it. Just can't breathe when it is blooming!!
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