Harvests from the Rockies

We spent some time in the Rocky Mountains and the Deserts of Utah in the past month.  We camped with family, went on some hikes, vended our herbals and screen prints from The Luminous Flower, and relaxed in the high mountains west of Boulder. I was excited to see some familiar plant friends, and some plants that are not-so-common here in the Midwest as well.

Mountain Yarrow

 Some Happy Mullein

Uva ursi in flower... I'm sure there were some little fairies living with these plants...

Pasque Flower

Wild Rose with some rose hips leftover from last fall.  I was interested to find that the wild roses in the high mountains were about a month behind the plants in Iowa.

 White Sage

Juniper with the berries just ripening

 Harvests of an afternoon hike: yarrow, juniper berries, mullein, and white sage

I made these White Sage smudge sticks from the sage I gathered from the deserts of Utah.

I also gathered some of the plentiful pine resin that I'm excited to work into some herbal incense soon.  All in all, it was a great trip! It was also great to get back home with my harvests, to my home apothecary, with tinctures and oils ready to press, salves ready to make, inspiration, and a breath of fresh mountain air.