72 Microseasons of the Pacific Northwest

Late April brings the peak flowering of Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), creating spectacular displays of white "flowers" (actually modified leaves called bracts) that appear to float among Douglas-fir and western hemlock canopies. Each flower cluster consists of a tight button of small greenish-yellow true flowers surrounded by 4-6 large white bracts that can span 3-5 inches across. Pacific dogwood is British Columbia's provincial flower and one of the Pacific Northwest's most beloved native trees, growing 15-40 feet tall in moist forest understories from British Columbia to California. The white bracts gradually turn pink as they age, and by fall, the tree produces clusters of bright red berries that attract birds. Unfortunately, Pacific dogwood has been severely impacted by dogwood anthracnose, a fungal disease that has killed many trees throughout the region since the 1970s.

Salmonberries ripen across the Olympic Peninsula coast and western lowlands—among the first native berries of the Pacific Northwest, ripening amber to pink-red in April and May. Spring peas and snap peas begin appearing at Puget Sound and Willamette Valley farmers markets. Burn-site morel season in the eastern Cascades continues.