Rocky Mountain Wildflowers — Colorado Wildflowers

Recently I completed my first Colorado Native Plant Society course through the CSU Extension. For three Saturdays a group of approximately 15 of us explored the flora of Golden Gate State Park in Colorado. We hiked along trails as our instructor, Mariska Hamstra, pointed out plants and gave information as to their families, scientific names, characteristics, and ecological connections. Each day we studied approximately 30 plants; so by the end of the course, we learned close to 100 species. On the last day of the class, the beginning of our time was spent with a test. Our instructor walked along...

Recently Bernie and I camped at Eleven Mile State Park and ventured in the surrounding areas to seek out wildflowers. In spite of heavy, late snows in Park County, the areas around all three reservoirs were very arid due to lack of recent rain. We enjoyed the scenic vistas and the hiking the trails, but wildflowers to photograph were few and far between; not at all like previous years. Anglers and writers including us constantly site Eleven Mile State Park and Eleven Mile Reservoir for the outstanding fishing and hiking trails waiting to be explored. Our Colorado’s South Park: High...

  Wildflowers are an important part of landscape photography. Using them as a foreground almost guarantees an interesting photo and the color that they add can be a very important part of the picture. Shooting wildflowers isn't difficult once you know a few pointers. Here are a couple that works well... I'm often asked when is the best time to shoot wildflowers in the Rockies. By mid to late June it is usually possible to find wildflowers at the seven to ten thousand foot levels. However, the real displays of high country wildflowers found at eleven and twelve thousand feet...

Recently Bernie and I joined a Colorado Native Plant Society group for an informative outing at Mount Evans. We began our trek at the Mt. Goliath trailhead at 12,100 feet and followed it downward through the Bristlecone area of Mount Evans along the Walter Pesman trail. Many of the flowers we discovered were tiny, ¼ inch or less as our altitude was comparable to northern Canada’s tundra or to the Arctic Circle. We marveled at how these plants grow in such a harsh environment and learned some of their survival secrets. Along the steep rocky trail we spotted the following...

This week my husband and I drove into Buckskin Gulch in the Mosquito Range of South Park, Colorado. The mountains were still covered with winter’s snows but along the roadside and in the meadows, wildflowers were beginning to add color to the landscape. Sky Pilot, Alpine Sandwort, Alp Lily, Chickweed, Old Man of the Mountain, Alpine Phlox and Wallflower were some of the notable flowers growing among the grasses, rocks and around the Bristlecone Pines at 11,500 feet.        Bristlecone and Wallflowers The Wallflowers especially were putting on a show. Bright yellow clumps were springing up everywhere, but what...