OT - Wildflower pics

18 years ago

I thought about posting this on the gallery side of the forum, but it's so quiet over there, I thought I would post it here instead. I hope that's okay.

My sister from out of state is in town this week, and we hiked at nearby Mt. Sopris. These are pictures from our hike. By the way, she is the wildflower expert, so I had her help identifying some of these.

The first is Thermopsis montana, also known as False Lupine:

This one is Silvery Lupine, or Lupinus argenteus, with Indian Paintbrush. I wish I could have got a better shot of the Lupine, but they were all in bright sunlight.

A close-up of Indian Paintbrush:

Blue Bells:

Wild Geranium:

Our state flower, Columbine. These blooms were huge!

Ipomopsis aggregata, or 'Scarlet Gilia', with some kind of stonecrop behind it. I am definitely going to order seeds of this one to WS this year!

At first I thought the blooms were covered with aphids. In person, it sparkled like someone had sprinkled glitter all over it, but I think it may have been sap from the tree above it. It's Fireweed:

... and one of the reasons I love living in Colorado

Thanks for letting me share with you!

Bonnie

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Comments (9)

proudgm_03
18 years ago
Wow! What great pictures. Is that snow in the last one?
terrene
18 years ago
Bonnie - your pictures may be OT but they are beautiful! I have a keen interest in native wildflowers and it's nice to see pictures of them growing in the wild near your house. The lake and mountains are very pretty too!

That first flower, the Thermopsis montana, looks like Baptisia to me. Really nice. And I love the Columbine.

Nice pictures. Thanks for posting them.
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bakemom_gw
18 years ago
OT? Who cares. More pictures! These are really a joy to look at.
highalttransplant
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you for the nice comments!

Proudgm, yep, that would be snow. At my house, it was around 95 degrees, but at the lake in the photo, elevation 10,500, it was in the low 70's, and the water was icy cold. The peak is almost 13,000 ft.

Terrene, you are right that 'False Lupine' and yellow Baptisia look very much alike!

Bakemom, I'm afraid that the rest of the photos are of me and my sister, and not near as interesting to look at, LOL!

Bonnie
shasta_2008
18 years ago
Spectacular!!! What a wonderful place to live! What's the weather like there in the summer, is it humid at all?
highalttransplant
Original Author
18 years ago
Shasta, the area that I am in is considered a high desert, with summertime highs ranging from the upper 80's to over 100. But even though it is pretty hot, and the sun is very intense here, the humidity is very low, and the nighttime temperatures are usually in the 50's in the summer.

I grew up in the hot, humid south, and I love it here! Some people around here actually put humidifiers in their homes to put moisture back into the air, but if I wanted to live in a sauna, I'd move back to the south, LOL!

Bonnie
lemecdutex
18 years ago
I love all of those wildflowers! I've got the Thermopsis started in my garden, as well as several types of shrubby and herbaceous lupines. It grows wild here in California, too. I was born and raised in the hot humid south, and don't miss it a bit! It's nice living where the longest days of the year are pleasant instead of miserable, plus I can grow nearly everything I like!

--Ron
dereks
18 years ago
Bonnie, your pictures are exactly the reason I like living in Utah so much. We went on a hike a month ago and the wildflowers were abundant. There was a hill side covered in blue lupines. I don't know what kind they were but is was spectacular.

Next month we are taking a gondola up Snow Basin ski resort. The gondola takes us to the top of the mountian. It is absolutely breath taking up there.
mnwsgal
18 years ago
Thanks for posting the wildflower pictures. Brings back memories of the summer I worked at Glacier National Park.

Though I love the mountains I also appreciate the wildflowers and views here in the flat land.