Grass Widow

The week of March 3-9 we were on the west side of the Cascades and went looking for the first wildflowers of spring, which are very late this year. We visited several locations and found a few wildflowers just starting to bloom at Pass Island. These are Grass Widows (I have no idea where the name came from) and there were just a few blooming.

Pass Island lies in Deception Pass between Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands and is also between the two sections of the Deception Pass Bridge. It is a place we often go for early spring wildflowers and for the bridge itself. We found there not only these wildflowers but a few Spring Gold (Lomatium) and some Sea Grape (Mahonia) starting to open.