[best appreciated at full size against black]

A week or so ago, I posted a picture of some pretty purple flower buds, which I found growing on our hillside. I didn't know what they were, but happily, one of my Flickr friends did! Donald Tedrow was absolutely right, and here is one of the buds, open and showing exactly why it has its name! If you can believe it, our hillside is positively COVERED with hundreds of these! It's actually difficult to put my feet down where there ISN'T a Shooting Star plant! They are only now beginning to bloom and I hope to get some group shots if I'm lucky!

This image was taken in March, 2012.