Fireweed: Alaska's Summer Calendar

The familiar deep pink fireweed that is blooming around Juneau right now serves as Juneau’s calendar of how much summer is left. Plants continue to grow into June and blossoms begin to form. Fireweed starts blooming from the base of the flower moving to the top of the stalk as leaves become red-tinged yellow.

When bloomed out, local lore says that from this point, we have six weeks until winter. Of course, as with all plants and all years, it varies. Sunny points tend to finish blooming before shady spots. Some years it is earlier than past years or later than usual. But no matter the personal observations, fireweed remains a reminder of summer’s fleeting nature as locals watch the blooms climb the stems.

Far from just a harbinger of fall, foragers harvest fireweed shoots in spring as one of the earliest greens available. Fireweed grow in swaths across town, the blossoms hold so much more than just the beauty of summer’s warmth and the march toward fall. These flowers often revegetate land after a forest fire and help keep soil from washing away.

Later in the summer, Alaskans selectively pick petals from yards or waysides, taking care to leave them where the display may delight passersby, and craft pink, floral-smelling jellies or fermenting leaves for tea.

Fireweed are resilient. As the seed pods appear and dry out – by weather or by heat due to forest fires in the interior – their long pods split exposing the small fluffy seeds to winds that carry them to new areas.

Fireweed is our reminder that the sunlight will wane, and cooler days are coming. We admire the beauty and yet heed the warning to maximize our days before winter comes.