Rocky Mountain Wildflowers — Rocky Mountain Wildflowers

      This year there are fantastic wildflower displays all over Colorado. Blooming now are Lupine, Indian Paintbrushes, Columbine, Mariposa Lilies, and Aspen Sunflowers---just to mention a few. These wildflowers and others have created more interest and demand for Rocky Mountain Wildflower Field Guide as people want to identify the flowers. The handy pocket-sized guide written by naturalist Linda Nagy with photographs by her award-winning photographer husband Bernie Nagy is selling well throughout Colorado. Last year in August the book received from Colorado Independent Publishers Association three top awards in the book categories of Reference, Nature, and Layout and Interior Design....

This year is proving to be a spectacular year for wildflowers. Along roadways, trails, and in fields and in high country meadows, colorful blooms can be seen everywhere in abundance. If you have a chance, you should visit Crested Butte Colorado during the 2015 Crested Butte Wildflower Festival. The week-long event takes place July 13-19 with additional events continuing through August. Even if you don’t attend scheduled events that are well worth the price, you can travel the back roads on your own to enjoy fantastic wildflower displays.      Aspen Sunflowers and Meadow with Larkspur, Aspen Sunflowers and Mule's Ears...

Snow and ice melting with the warming early summer sun in the upper mountain meadows provide nourishing water for the slowly sprouting alpine wildflowers. Soon the first flowers appear---Globeflowers with divided leaves, Marsh Marigold with heart-shaped leaves, and yellow Snow Buttercups with stringy leaves. The flowers below were photographed by Bernie Nagy above Emma Lake near Alma, Colorado. When the first hikers arrive to climb Colorado’s Rocky Mountain peaks, they will find a wide variety of much smaller and tiny subalpine species blooming in addition.            In earlier times from 1887 to 1918, the Colorado Midland Railroad transported...

Let’s hear it for the school children of Colorado! Twice they have influenced the legislature in naming official state symbols. The Rocky Mountain Columbine began its road to becoming the state flower in1891 as it was voted overwhelming the favorite flower of Colorado’s school children. The white and lavender Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea or coerulea, was adopted as the official state flower on April 4, 1899 by an act of the General Assembly.       Discovered in 1820 on Pike's Peak by mountain climber Edwin James, the columbine was also named and described by him. The two spelling confusions are due...

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...