On June 5, 2019 we had a fantastic round of thunderstorms that ripped through South Central Alaska. The storms demonstrated mother nature’s power and beauty but also started one of the largest wildfires on the Kenai Peninsula burning just over 160,000 acres over the course of three to four months, The Swan Lake fire. Left behind in the wake of the fire was blackened devastation that was once this stunning forest. But like all things that occur in the natural world this began a cycle that two years later brought about one of the most beautiful transformations and it is all thanks to one of my favorite plants, the Fireweed.

F116Fireweed with Hatcher Pass in the background.

For those that don’t have Fireweed every year let me introduce you! Fireweed can be found pretty much anywhere there is an open field from the sea level into the mountains but one of the truly amazing things about it is that it tends to be one of the first to lay claim to an area after a forest fire or other devastating event. After the bombing of London in World War II Fireweed was one of the first flowers to bloom among the wreckage and after the eruption of Mount St. Helens back in 1980 Fireweed soon covered many of the affected areas. F158An off color fireweed among the brightly colored counter parts.

The stalk of this flower, on average, is about 4-6 feet tall but can grow to heights of up to 9 feet tall. The flowers themselves tend to bloom on the last third of the stalk. They can range in color from light pinks to bright pinks to purples and if the soil is right you even find the occasional white bloom. The leaves can be used for teas and the blooms make a fantastic jelly.

There are a couple of Old Wives Tales associated with Fireweed as well. Many Alaskans use the Fireweed to keep track of how long summer is going to last. The blooms begin blooming towards the bottom of the stalk and once the last bloom at the top of the stalk opens then it is said that winter will arrive in 6 weeks.

F160Fireweed

The other tale says that the height of the stalks determine how hard of a winter we are going to have, the taller the stalks the harder the winter. I just learned about this particular tale so I will have to do some personal research to see how accurate it is.

Now with all that being said there is nothing that can compare to just the plain beauty of a valley full of these flowers and when I went back down to the areas that I thought were destroyed by the fires of 2019 the beauty that I saw took my breath away.

L352Fireweed with the Kenai River and Skilak Lake in the distance, found along the Skilak loop.

Fireweed was all you could see, it was like a sea of pink.

L351Fireweed along the Skilak Loop

Once again mother nature reminded me that although devastation is bound to happen in life there is always a rebirth of one kind or another.

Check out more great information about fireweed;

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/chamerion_angustifolium.shtml