Let the Games Begin!

On my way home from Canyon Lake yesterday, I turned up a loop road that I'd been curious about, off the service road in west Rapid City that leads home. I found the pasqueflower blooming on the sandy hillside there! I took this first shot, of the open cluster, in early afternoon. Later, I took Jayne to see and get a photo op also. Both sets of photos I took only produced a few decent shots. While there the 2nd time, we discovered clusters of tiny white flowers scattered in one area. Turns out it's the plains phlox, a wildflower we didn't have photos of yet! I just love finding "new" flowers.

I went back to Canyon Lake today, and stopped for a third time on the hillside on the loop road. It was mid morning and the pasqueflowers were mostly closed up in buds. The bud shot (center) is the same cluster as in the photo of open flowers.

This white flower is the plains phlox, of the phlox family. More commonly seen in the Black Hills area is the leafy phlox, which is mostly pink or lilac, but can be white also.