If it’s true, as Shakespeare said, “A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet,” then why is it some people care so deeply about the names of flowers?
Perhaps it’s because naming a thing gives it weight and significance, and to know the wildflowers in one’s backyard is to know the seasons, fleeting as they might be here in the High Sierra.
“You could walk the same walk every day, and tons of stuff changes,” said Hannah Sullivan, a West Shore resident who, along with her partner, photographed and catalogued 98 varieties of wildflowers from Tahoe and Yosemite and published the images in brilliant color brochures that can be folded into pocket guides or mounted on the wall as posters.
From Lewis’ monkey flower (named for the famed explorer Meriwether Lewis) to Thimbleberry, a high alpine source for great jam, Sullivan and her partner, Cliff Lambson, have catalogued some of the most beautiful wildflowers of the Sierra. These are not the sort of plants you’d buy at the local nursery (although some Tahoe nurseries specialize in their seed mixes); the beauty of these native flowers is that you will find them in your backyard or on one of many hikes in Tahoe’s pristine alpine valleys and meadows.
The wildflowers are mile markers for the seasons, each of them carrying their own weight and significance for Sullivan. One of her favorites is blue flox, a tall, wispy plant with flowers “the color of the Tahoe sky,” she said. Borrowing from “The Language of Flowers,” a debut novel about an orphaned girl by Vanessa Diffenbaugh that incorporates its own dictionary of flowers and their meanings, Sullivan notes that flox is the flower of fate, and carries the message of “feeling” one’s kindness, a resonant theme in Diffenbaugh’s story.
“For me, there’s a real teaching component to this,” Sullivan said of her many years of work on the photography project. “Being able to teach people about places I love is one way to feed my soul.”
Ten years ago, with an MBA from UC Berkley and a background in investment management, Sullivan purchased Tahoe Trips & Trails, a business that combines guided hikes, tours, and treks with gourmet food for the outdoor set who want more than a gas-lit camp stove at the end of the day. In 2010 she sold the business to Patty and Jeff Baird of Cedar House Sport Hotel, and continues to work as a guide on various interpretive hikes.
A native of Cleveland, Sullivan said she tries to build a life that combines her passions with her business sense, hence her focus on the outdoors. The wildflower guides include maps with trailhead guides to areas where hikers are likely to find many of the flowers illustrated inside.
This time of the year, the Tahoe Rim Trail portion of Ward Valley is likely to be full of beautiful wildflowers, Sullivan said. Blackwood Canyon on Tahoe’s West Shore also promises a colorful display, and Lambson will be joining Will Richardson of the Tahoe Institute of Natural Science for a guided hike there on Friday, June 28 as part of Alpenglow’s Mountain Festival. Sullivan said she can’t remember the last time she took a vacation, but one has to wonder if in fact she isn’t living one to some small degree.
