It’s rhododendron season again on Mount Hood. The “rhodies” are revered here on The Mountain as they are, most likely, the most popular wildflower that blooms around us. We even have a town that is named for the beautiful pink flowers that line our roads every Springtime. They’re very photogenic and my wife Darlene and I are always glad to see rhododendron season arrive.
The name rhododendron is derived from the ancient Greek words for rose and tree. Of course rhododendrons are neither a rose nor a tree. They’re a part of a genus of over 1000 species of woody plants in the heather family. They’re found mainly in Asia but are also widespread in the mountains of the American Pacific Northwest as well as in the highlands of the Appalachian Mountains. Azalea are related to rhododendrons. Rhododendrons have been domesticated and come in many colors, but the natives are a beautiful blushing pink. Many homes in the area have domestic rhododendrons of varying colors in their yards, but the beautiful native flowers are my favorite.
Rhododendrons are so beautiful that they seem to be out of place in the forest. I have been asked several times by those friends not from here if they were planted along the highways as a beautification project. Of course these beautiful flowers also grow far from roads throughout the forest but they love sunshine. You can find them growing along the roads because of that. They also love burned areas or even clear cut forests. You can find places where they cover a clearing in the forest. As photographers we can capitalize on that by going to a clearing with a beautiful view of Mount Hood for our photo. But these beautiful flowers will also grow in the forests among the trees with beautiful columns of trees surrounding them. Many views can be found by taking a hike on many of the trails in the area. Or even by taking a drive on some of the forest roads that are near us.
They are beautiful in a wide angle photo as well as a macro photo. The flower’s pastel pink blossoms, in contrast with a beautiful blue sky, are a perfect color combination and when blended with a beautiful snow capped peak. This creates a classic composition fit for a calendar or a postcard or even a framed photo for your living room.
And furthermore the bear grass blooms along with the rhododendrons on a typical year. The shape of these flowers, with their stem shooting up from the ground and their hundreds of small, white sparkle like blossoms flaring out into an orb reminds me of fireworks bursting in the sky.
There’s really not a lot more to say about these beautiful flowers besides my encouragement to take some time to appreciate this local flower that represents the beauty of our forests.
To make this photo I took focus stacked five images due to how near the minimum focus distance the flowers were. This allowed