Small purple flowers

[happilyretired]

There were a few patches of these guys along the McKenzie River Trail today. I'm new in town so all I know is I don't recognize them from the midwest Help?

[adamschneider]

Snow queen. Along with osoberry, one of the very first flowers west of the Cascade crest.

[happilyretired]

Thanks Adam! It was certainly the first one flowering on this hike.

[Charley]

That's so early!

Though, I've seen cherries starting to bloom in Portland, so maybe it's not that early after all.

[adamschneider]

It isn't abnormally early for snow queen.

(And the first flowers in the eastern Gorge usually start around New Year's Day.)

[Charley]

It isn't abnormally early for snow queen.

(And the first flowers in the eastern Gorge usually start around New Year's Day.)

I'm from the South and it's still amazing to me to be so far north and see flowers blooming in the middle of winter. Whether that's normal or not for those particular flowers, or normal or not for parts of this region, it does not fit the mental model of flower behavior that I share with many other Americans.

For example, here's a website of wildflower bloom times for the Smokies, which are at a latitude about 660 or so miles south of us (same as Las Vegas, give or take):

https://www.gatlinburg.com/blog/post/sp ... mountains/

The earliest listed month in that website is March! How can we be so much further north and yet have spring happening so much earlier!? Evolution and climate are fascinating.

[adamschneider]

How can we be so much further north and yet have spring happening so much earlier!? Evolution and climate are fascinating.

The Pacific Ocean.

The USDA "zones," which tell you which plants your area supports and when to put them in the ground, are based entirely on minimum temperature, not average or high temperature. The ocean keeps the west coast from getting seriously cold, so we're in the same USDA zone as South Carolina.