Western Fairy Slipper

Last Thursday turned out to be a decent day and as my wife put it, "we flew the coop." We found a lot of the early spring wildflowers along the coast including these first orchids of the season. We did not find a lot of them since they are just starting to bloom, a bit earlier than usual, but it was nice to see them again. They are always the first orchids and among the first wildflowers to bloom in our area. They are the Western Fairy Slipper, found only in a relatively small area west of the Rocky Mountains. The Eastern variety is found across the USA and Canada and has a large yellow spot on the lip.