Although Apache plume blooms throughout the summer, it’s most prolific in May, when it covers the Sandia foothills in a soft pink haze. Even though it’s not all that striking in some ways, Apache plume is one of my absolute favorites.
I love Apache plume in almost every stage. The photo above shows their blooming sequence, from left to right: a white flower, bare sepals and stamens, and finally, the plume.1
The two centered plumes above are clearly new ones because a) their centers are still yellow-green and b) they haven’t begun to flare out yet. I think those yellow-green centers are indescribably beautiful.
I spend a substantial portion of each spring trying to take (yet another) photo like the one above, showing all the yellow tips at the end of each plume segment as well as their many fine, delicate hairs.
One day a few weeks ago, I was walking along in the foothills when I noticed that butterflies flew up into the air each time I took a step. I looked more closely at them and realized all the butterflies were painted ladies which were nectaring on Apache plume.2 Each butterfly must’ve come straight from the chrysalis — every single one was perfect, with no tattered wings to be seen.
The magical clouds of butterflies my footsteps created also made it rather difficult to take photos. I literally had to tiptoe around the painted ladies so they wouldn’t fly away from their beautiful Apache plume perches.
For some reason, a photo that adequately captures the soft pink glow of Apache plume has consistently eluded me. The closest I ever came was in the 2017 photo above, when my intention was solely to get a shot of the two mule deer brothers.3 I don’t think I even noticed the Apache plume at the time.
Thank you, Mother Nature, for your skillful flower arrangement.
Here’s a post about painted (and other) lady butterflies that I wrote a couple of years ago.
I don’t think they are really brothers. More likely they’re pals, “bachelor boys,” as one of my friends calls them.
I’m also a fan of Apache Plume! Lovely pics!
Stunningly beautiful photos! I've never noticed the yellow tips!