“Bull Springs Wildflowers”, Skyline Forest

Description

“Bull Springs Wildflowers”, Skyline Forest

Bull Springs,  Skyline Forest,  Bend, Oregon

Located in the Skyline Forest, Northwest of Bend, Oregon, Bull Springs is a small lush oasis in a dry forest area.  Much of the Skyline Forest has been decimated by wildfires in the past few years, including the area around Bull Springs.  Fortunately and miraculously, the Riparian area along the springs has begun to flourish.

Phacelia, high desert wildflowers.

Countless wildflowers thrive along the banks of Bull Springs.  One of my personal favorites is seen at left, Phacelia.  Its pink-lavender blooms proliferate for a short window of time each spring.  Close inspection of Phacelia reveals intimate details in each flower with touches of yellow and green near the center of the bloom.  I’ll soon release a fine art photo of this Phacelia plant and the detail in the individual flowers is incredible!

Phacelia can be found in many areas of the high desert in the Central Oregon area but this may be the single most impressive plant that I’v found in my wanderings as a landscape photographer. It is an incredibly healthy specimen thriving  only two years after the 2014 “Two Bulls” Fire which gave the city of Bend a healthy scare.

While the area around Bull Springs was scorched by the  fire, the area immediately surrounding the springs is a lush wildflower garden which should be protected for all to enjoy.

Another of my favorite wildflowers, the Western Columbine, is also thriving in the aftermath of the Two Bulls fire.  Western Columbine are the orange flowers seen in the photo at the top of this page.

Western Columbine

They are stunning!  Pendulous, with an exquisite form, glowing orange with yellow highlights.  They are really gorgeous.  My new fine art print of Bull Springs has an amazing collection of Western Columbine at the peak of their spring color.  The detail of the print is astounding!

The Western Columbine specimen seen in the photo to the left is immediately adjacent to Bull Springs.  It is absolutely huge!  You can find Western Columbine along waterways in many locations near Bend, Oregon, including along the shores of Sparks Lake, located 25 miles south of Bend, on the Cascade Lakes Highway.

The Skyline Forest Area is largely arid but because of the life-giving springs, Western Columbine are flourishing.  I’ll also release a fine art photo of this Western columbine in the near future, so stay tuned to see the incredible detail in this stunning photograph!

Bull Springs, The Fine Art Photograph

I’d like to draw a bit of attention to the good folks at the Deschutes Land Trust, who, for years, have been working tirelessly to preserve the Skyline Forest for residents and visitors of Central Oregon to enjoy forever.  The Deschutes Land Trust is a group of wonderful, dedicated people, whose work to preserve land in the Deschutes River Basin transcends political boundaries.  I encourage you to visit their website, familiarize yourself with their work and if at all possible, get involved with them.  In an effort to support the altruistic work that the Land Trust performs, I’ll donate 10% of all sales of this new fine art print of Bull Springs directly to the Deschutes Land Trust.  I hope it helps their noble efforts!