Milkweed Madness plus Moth and Gilia

Finally, all five species of milkweeds are blooming in and around Oakland Camp. I took a group of campers to the Williams Loop area last Thursday and the most memorable flower blooming, to me, was the Scarlet Gilia (bottom photo here), and it was plentiful. There were also lots of Penstemon, Checker Bloom, Cinquefoil, and Lupine. Along Squirrel Creek, just north of the Loop we saw a few Dippers and several mores species of wildflowers. All in all, a wonderful morning capped by a box lunch and the thrill of seeing a 1 1/4 mile long train overlap itself on the loop.
Took another walk with a different group of campers today, basically a mile along Spanish Creek in the downstream direction from camp. We saw several new (for this season) blooms, including the Narrow Leaf Milkweed and some Leopard Lilies. But I am in love with the Purple Milkweed and Showy Milkweed, and whenever I see them, year after year, i'm always trying to get the perfect photo. I post six here, some with guests. I'll undoubtedly post more in the coming days as I still haven't seen, this season, a significant number of Red Milkweed Beetles. When the showy Milkweed is at its peak of blooming, these beautiful beetles are out in force and make for dramatic photos. Also, this species of milkweed has a wonderful smell/aroma/fragrance which reminds me of peaches. My guests and I had fun discussing the different words we attach to things: one person's smell is another person's fragrance. In a similar vein we discussed positive and negative labelling of plants such as Bindweed/Orchard Morning Glory and animals such as Potato Bug/Jerusalem Cricket. I could add Indian Rhubarb/Umbrella Plant and Digger Pine/Grey Pine. We also discovered other aromatic delights - the Pennyroyal (a mint), Mugwort (a sage), and the somewhat aromatic pines, firs, and cedar. Undoubtedly, I'll add more memories of this morning's walk to tomorrow's post.