Plant of the Month: Cascade Blueberry
![0907632 Cascades Blueberry fruit & fall foliage [Vaccinium deliciosum]. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF Herman's Saddle Tr, WA. © Mark Turner Cascade Blueberry fruit](/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Turner_0907632.jpg)
Every year we northwest lowlanders make pilgrimages to the mountains to savor Vaccinium deliciosum, Cascade blueberries (aka blueleaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, or Rainier blueberry). This low-growing and widespread blueberry lives up to its Latin name, for the fruit is truly delicious. When you find a patch loaded with fruit you can feast for a long time on sweet tastiness.
In this low-snow, warm-summer year the blueberries have ripened earlier than usual. Last weekend Natalie and I hiked out to Low Pass and High Pass, above Twin Lakes and just south of Mount Larrabee. In many places the trail is cut into a steep slope and we could graze on blueberries at waist level without even having to bend over. It can’t get much better than that! Continue reading


![1302085 Scouler's Willows in fall color among Snowbrush w/ Ponderosa Pines on skyline [Salix scouleriana; Ceanothus velutinus]. Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Shady Pass Road, Chelan, WA. © Mark Turner Scouler's Willows in fall color](/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Turner_1302085.jpg)
![0314703 Deer Ferns in moss garden w/ Salal on decaying stumps bkgnd [Blechnum spicant; Gaultheria shallon]. Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Is., WA. © Mark Turner 0314703 Deer Ferns in moss garden w/ Salal on decaying stumps bkgnd [Blechnum spicant; Gaultheria shallon]. Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Is., WA. © Mark Turner](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/DeerFern_Turner_0314703.jpg)
![1202683 Pacific Dogwood [Cornus nuttallii]. CA Rt 32, Forest Ranch, CA. © Mark Turner Pacific Dogwood](/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Turner_1202683.jpg)
![1300232 Beaver pond wetland framed by Douglas-firs, Western Redcedars, Red Huckleberries [Pseudotsuga menziesii; Thuja plicata; Vaccinium parvifolium]. Stimpson Family Nature Reserve, Bellingham, WA. © Mark Turner Beaver pond wetland](/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Turner_1300232-blend.jpg)

![0802087 Pink Fawn Lily blossoms [Erythronium revolutum]. Hi-Knoll Park, Surrey, BC. © Mark Turner Pink Fawn Lily blossoms](/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Turner_0802087.jpg)

