And the official winning names are… (drum roll please)…
Oregon Rainbow Connection (A) and Oregon Rowena Spring* (B). And Kara from @gilded_green on Insta gets a free small card of choice at any market she catches me at for helping me name the first one! (I’ll be tagging her on Insta tomorrow, Tuesday 6/16.)
* ETA 6/17/26 – I changed my mind at the last minute on this one, from Oregon Spring TO Rowena Spring, because “Oregon Spring” felt too grandiose, and would prevent me from using it for any other image in the future that might better capture that title. So, Rowena spring, showing the beautiful wild lupin and arrow balsamroot in bloom. Apologies for any confusion!
Everyone else gets $2 off any single small card (not in a set of 3) if you correctly tell me the winning name for Card A with the rainbow in person (without looking at the label on the back first!) at The Solstice Market coming up next Saturday June 20th at the Multnomah French Quarter 3518 SW Multnomah Blvd in Portland 12-5 pm. (Free admission, family-friendly, lots of food and crafts to be had!) And don’t miss our overflow location at Local Collective 7830 SW 35th just across the street and up one block with even more great artists and vendors! Definitely catch both spots!
For those not following me on social media, you missed out on my plea for help naming these two images. I was struggling for unknown reasons -I’m normally pretty good at picking names. Not this time!
I’m considering them to be part of my Scenics lineup (Line C) as I consider them to be gotten while traveling versus while studying bees and flowers in my neighborhood or garden more closely. Though yes, Oregon Spring features flowers. But they are our native wildflowers (blue Lupin and yellow arrow balsamroot aka “Oregon Sunflower”) viewed from Rowena Point out near Mosier off I-84 east of Portland in 2011.
The rainbow appeared as if by magic at the end of a long rainy weekend of music making at the Menucha Retreat Center just as the faculty concert was starting. Everyone else headed into the concert (rightly so), but I saw the sun break out below the cloud layer just then too, so I chased the light over to this view and voila! A rainbow beaming down right over the Columbia River as I looked northeast from the campus. (Cue choir of angels.)
Yeah, I was late to the concert and caught heck for it, but can you blame me? This is NOT photoshopped! Just lightly color-enhanced. It was this magical in person. (Menucha Retreat Center is on the old highway overlooking I-84 and the Gorge just west of Vista House at Crown Point for those familiar with the area. You can get to the old highway out of Troutdale, just east of Portland. You won’t see this from I-84, which puts you below the cliffside.)
Okay, back to bees-ness. I’m out of hummingbirds~! And need to print some larger Oregon Rainbow Connections! See you soon, hopefully! (In cooler weather too, phew.) – Jan Mon 6/15/26
