Fireweed Blooming – Six Weeks Until Winter

Call it folklore or a natural indicator of the weather but whatever you decide, Winter is on its way! Fireweed, as known as Epilobium angustifolium, is a beautiful and huge pink flower that is known by a lot as the indicator that winter or the first snow is only six weeks away. Typically grown in high climates, Fireweed can grow up to 8 feet tall.  Over the weekend in Yellowstone National Park some friends of ours saw it growing!!  Not all had bloomed yet so that six weeks may be an estimate. However, higher up in the mountains and up north more, it could be full swing!

Not only has the weather here in Billings started slowly making its way to the cooler end of the thermometer (slowly, as in it's 81 instead of 95) but the same is happening all over the region. Temperatures in Yellowstone National Park were lower this last weekend then normal averages and we will continue to see that drop as we head closer to September. So, call me crazy, but I think winter is going to be arriving just about the 1st of October. We shall see!