The Legend of the Fireweed
In speaking with a school teacher (at my Paint-a-Scarf class), she told me that Alaskans watch the Fireweed like a hawk. Apparently, it is a great predictor of winter’s arrival. She told me that once the Fireweed “cottons”, that means six weeks until winter settles in. Although a lot of others agreed with her at least in some part, she was adamant that it wasn’t first snow, it was that winter was truly here. This is the first picture of Fireweed that I took, in late June. Notice that the blossoms are only open near the bottom.
As summer wore on, the blossoms began opening further up stem.
And sometime in the early August, you could see the change. The open blossoms were more and more at the top of the stem.
Several days later, the blossoms were gone, leaving only spikes that seemed to get darker. The Fireweed had lost its joy.
In a few more days, we are now in the second week of August and the “cotton” is beginning to appear. This is how the Fireweed looks as its going to seed.
Before we were gone, the Fireweed had lost all of its life. But sowed the seeds for a beautiful view next year. If the legend is correct, winter will be full blown in Alaska the first or second week of October. Way to early for me!
