Up where these thistle plants are located, the brief summer season lasts for two or maybe at most three months before the winter snows arrive again and bury everything in icy white. Anything that lives and grows here must take advantage of this literal moment in the sun to accomplish everything necessary before that next long winter season. But that suits the thistle very well. They have short lifespans, spending the first year warm season mainly growing a taproot deep underground followed by a second year where they grow mainly above ground up to heights of 6 feet, before becoming crowned with the typical pinkish purple florets. This was the moment that The Wild Images Team captured the above photo, during the dog days of summer late July, when even the high altitudes of the Wasatch Mountain Range in Utah warm up in the sun. Thistles are one of the most important nectar sources for pollinating insects, especially honeybees, bumblebees, and butterflies. So it was no surprise that in this thistle meadow on this particular sunny day, it was full of activity. The entire area was humming with the buzzes of thousands of bumblebees and honeybees, while occasional butterflies also came through fluttering from plant to plant. But the party does not last long. Within a few weeks, the pinkish purple florets that characterize the thistle will disappear, to be replaced by downy pappus, with its resemblance to cotton, attached to the seeds which can then be readily dispersed in the wind. This generally completes the life cycle of a thistle plant, as it is highly unlikely to return for a third season. But the brief summer season allows it to reseed the surrounding terrain to ensure that future generations will continue to thrive here. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Utah including the competition between cliff colors and clouds in Zion National Park, the intricate designs of the high altitude patterned wall in Zion National Park, distant rain curtains over the colorful cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park, cloud shadows defining the colorful pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park, the scenic view as the full moon rises over Red Canyon, the Goblin Valley State Park thunderstorm and lightning strike over goblins, the impenetrable colorful rim wall of Goblin Valley State Park, the gravity defying balanced rock with snow in Arches National Park, the moment in Arches National Park when a winter storm clears over pinnacles and the La Sal Mountains, the very bright but fleeting rainbow beyond The Hand in Arches National Park, the instance In Arches National Park when lightning strikes near the Three Gossips, the green slopes of Sandy Mountain guarded by red lichen rock sentinels, the wild clouds over the elevated plains of the Grand Staircase-Escalante, and finally in Midway where the five flags of the military fly over Memorial Hill, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts documenting our time in Utah include the road towards the extremely remote Valley of the Gods, an expansive view of the major formations of Zion National Park, the road winding through Fremont cottonwoods in Zion National Park, the road through intricately carved highlands in Zion National Park, the road through red and white rock cliffs in Zion National Park, The Wild Images Team vehicle on a dirt road in Red Canyon, the high altitude scene where a thistle soaks up the brief summer season sunshine, the moment a snake slithers over water plants in Cascade Springs, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance to Cascade Springs, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome standing proudly in Goblin Valley, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at The Brick Oven Restaurant, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at an overlook of Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome in front of the rock pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance of Zion National Park, and finally The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome in front of the cliffs of Zion National Park.
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