Flower Fest - G for Gaillardia pulchella

When we got snowed out on our camping trip in Rocky Mountain National Park in September, we decided not to let it bring us down. So the next day we went to the 21st Annual Walker Ranch Special Event at the Walker Ranch Homestead. They had costumed men, women and children to demonstrate life on a ranch in the 1880s. The sun was out and the sky was clear, a fantastic contrast to the previous day. What we didn't bargain for was the biting wind that continued blowing from the mountains. I got very cold and headed back to the car while the rest of the family braved the elements. But before I opted out, I managed to find some exquisite wildflowers growing by an old horseshed. They were a splash of bright color amidst an otherwise dry and arid landscape.


Indian blanket, gaillardia pulchella, is a Colorado wildflower that grows like a carpet. Also called firewheel, this beauty will flourish in dry conditions in the hot sun and in sandy soil. It is not a needy plant at all.


Found all over North America, except in the North-west, gaillardia pulchella is an annual that propagates readily from seed. It will reseed and reappear the following summer.


It flowers from summer to early fall, which was when I saw it. In September. Apparently some states are cultivating it along highways and freeways for that same splash of color that I found so inviting.

This picture is my favorite picture as it shows the flower in various states of bloom. It has the bud, the young bloom, the full bloom, the spent bloom, the disk after the ray flowers have fallen off and the dry disk which will turn into seed.


This is my entry for the letter G in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is G. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Indian blanket, Gaillardia pulchella, gaillardia, firewheel, Colorado wildflower

Flower Fest - F for Fringe Tree

Life has been very hectic lately. And the Holiday Season is also upon us, making this the busiest season at work, too. So much to do, not enough hours in the day. Because of this and the wonderful weather we're having - not! - it's zero F (yes! F! not C!) and we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground - I am not featuring a Colorado wildflower for Flower Fest - F. Instead, I have for you the beautiful Fringe Tree.

Chionanthus virginicus, also known as the Old Man's Beard, sports fragrant white flowers with fringe-like petals. The Chinese Fringe Tree is wonderful to have on small lots as it does not grow taller than 10-15 feet. In the wild, it can grow up to 30 feet.

I took these pictures at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, last summer.

This is my entry for the letter F in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is F. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, fringe tree, Chionanthus virginicus, old man's beard

Flower Fest - E for Erigeron peregrinus

Erigeron peregrinus. Sounds quite royal, doesn't it? In a way it is.
These are flowers that grow near the top of the world, almost! They are subalpine daisies, also known as subalpine fleabanes, found in montane to subalpine meadows. I saw these teeny beauties when we went camping at the Moraine Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park in the middle of September. We got snowed out on that trip and I was truly amazed to see small patches of color on the ground, despite the weather. A closer look revealed these gorgeous teeny daisies. If you click through to the larger image, you will be able to see the ice on the flower.

Subalpine daisies are part of the Asteraceae family, the second largest family in flowering plants. Also known as the Wandering daisy, this wildflower is found mainly in the western parts of North America.

Erigeron peregrinus blooms are between 1/16th of an inch to 2 inches in diameter. The flowers I saw were all under 1 inch. These plants can be annuals, biennials or perennials. The photo below shows how easy it is to miss seeing these flowers! Yes, that is elk poo, works as a natural fertilizer, I am sure!

I was very worried that I would not be able to find a Colorado Wildflower for Flower Fest - E. I was also worried that I may have to pick up a set of watercolor pencils and try my hand at a watercolor. But, a deep perusal of my digital images and the help of SW Colorado Wildflowers' web site, I found my entry for E!

This is my entry for the letter E in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is E. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Erigeron peregrinus, subalpine daisy, subalpine fleabane, wandering daisy, wildflower

Flower Fest - D for Delosperma Cooperi

A hardy perennial, originally from South Africa, the Delosperma cooperi is an evergreen succulent that is about the only plant that I have successfully grown since moving to Colorado! I hope I am not saying this too soon as we still have the winter ahead of us! Maybe it's because they tolerate heat very well and do not need much water. Perfect candidate for a xeric garden, just what we need in Colorado!


I have the cultivar known as the Hardy Pink Ice Plant in my little rock garden. The pink blooms are more a metallic deep shade of magenta than pink. These little beauties are late-risers and open up every morning by about 10 a.m. - well, they used to do that before the last winter storm dumped about 10 inches of snow on us! They retire early, too, with the sun.

The dainty flowers are about 2 inches in diameter and the plants grow to about 6 inches in height. The leaves are long and cylindrical in shape, almost like slim but fleshy fingers! Cuttings of these leaves will take root and spawn new plants. They do also propagate by seed.



This is my entry for the letter D in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is D. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Delosperma cooperi, hardy ice plant, xeric

Snowstorm in Colorado

We woke up to a white backyard with trees bent over, heavy with snow. My Bradford Pear in the far corner was doubled over so much that I had to look really hard to find it! It lost a branch despite being being frequently shaken.

Oh no! My aspen and my other tree with brown leaves, that I wishfully thought was a Japanese Maple.

My dogwood! Oh no! My favorite tree!

The aspens across the street were in worse shape...

The cottonwood, too. Much as I despise this tree, I didn't want it to lose any branches.

Across from the cottonwood, this tree stands tall and serene; almost as if to say "I told you to lose those leaves..."

...while my dogwood grows heavier...

Uh-oh! We have a bigger problem with the other dogwood. It's bent over and is hugging the neighbor's roof! A mature maple in the yard next door lost 4 branches.

A closer look at the heavy branches. Those could do some serious damage to the roofs when the winds kick in!

...and the other dogwood bends over further and loses its first branch. :-(

...and starts leaning over a young maple...

My neighbor climbed high into the tree and shook all the snow off the branches. We used a pole to shake the branches he couldn't get to.

There he is shaking the other dogwood. When the pole had next to no effect, he climbed up the tree and then onto the roof. If I hadn't been wearing gloves, my nails would have been chewed to the bone.

I do love my trees so it was a huge relief when the dogwoods sprang back to normal!

This is what my dogwood is like in winter. Gorgeous!

Flower Fest - C for Canada Thistle

C. Canada Thistle. Cirsium arvense. Creeping Thistle.

I was amazed by this delicate wildflower. It was only about an inch in height and even less in width. It was like a blur of color on the wet ground in Morrison, Colorado. Morrison is about 8000ft in altitude. As usual, I had no clue what I was taking a picture of. All I knew was that it was a small beautiful purple wildflower.



The roots of the Canada thistle can spread more than 15 feet horizontally and its roots may grow into the soil anywhere from 6 to 15 feet deep.

Unlike the Buffalo Bur which tosses its spiny seeds into the path of all that may trod that way, the Canada thistle a creeping perennial that reproduces from vegetative buds in its root system. Roots and shoots can give rise to new plants. That's not to say that it does not produce seeds.

I took the above picture towards the end of September on one of my walks in the Open Spaces of Louisville, Colorado. It looked like it was done flowering and already producing seed.

It can produce between 1000 to 1500 seeds per flowering shoot and seeds are responsible for long distance dispersal. The feathery pappus helps disperse the seeds. However it is known to fall off leaving the seed attached to the plant, requiring other modes of dispersal. Seedlings grow slower and are subject to competition from other weeds especially as they are not backed by an extensive root system. Nevertheless, its seed should not be underestimated as it can remain viable in the soil for 20 years. The deeper it is buried, the longer it is viable.

Canada thistle has spread throughout the US except the south-eastern region. In Colorado, it is found in the plains and foothills, flowering from July to September. And, yes, it is classified as a noxious weed.

References: Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Guide to Colorado Wildflowers Vol 1 Plains & Foothills and Guide to Colorado Wildflowers Vol 2.

This is my entry for the letter C in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is C. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Canada Thistle, Cirsium arvense, wildflower

Garage Graffiti

A walk in downtown Louisville, Colorado is always filled with surprises such as this garage graffiti!

Early Fall

September 2 and it was barely in the 50s (F) in Morrison, Colorado. Morrison is about 7800 ft in altitude. It was a sneak peek at the cold fall that lay ahead of us.

Flower Fest - B for Buffalo Bur

This is the Buffalo Bur from the Solanum rostratum genus. Beautiful and a rather unusual bloom, right? Maybe, but don't let it fool you! It's barely 1 inch across in width and is the bane of most off-road cyclists. Look at those blurry spiky things that are in sharper focus in my next picture; they're why.



Buffalo Bur is from the Nightshade family and apparently, the foliage and the unripe fruit of most nightshades contain dangerous levels of a steroid alkaloid, solanine. The ripe berries are the least toxic part of these plants. And if you haven't guessed it already, yes, it is classified as an weed.

Buffalo bur has long, yellow spines on stems, leaves, and flower heads as can be seen in the photo above. They grow up to 2 feet high and are drought resistant. The flowers bloom in summer so I guess I was rather lucky to find these on the trails towards the end of September. By fall, the spiny fruit or the berries, if you will, develop and are up to 1/2 inch in diameter. These are filled with black, wrinkled, flat pitted seeds. When the seeds mature, the stem breaks close to the ground and the plant rolls scattering the thousands of seeds it produces. (source: Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Denver)

Apart from being a weed, its status in Colorado continues to be dubious. It's a host for the Colorado potato beetle and so control of this weed is strongly recommended. But given by the number of plants I saw just on our trail, it seems to flourish in the protected Open Spaces of Louisville, Colorado.

A huge thank you to Al Schneider of South West Colorado Wildflowers, Ferns and Trees for identifying this wildflower, I mean weed, for me!

This is my entry for the letter B in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is B. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Buffalo Bur, Solanum rostratum

Colorado State Capitol Rotunda

From the first floor:


From the third floor:


A close up:

Colorado Blue Spruce

What could be more Colorado than Blue Spruce? Here is a young Colorado Blue Spruce from my yard poking its needles through a just budding bush of yellow mums.

Elk

This elk was less than 100ft from a camp site. The bull elks bugled all night and moved their harem of cow elks right through our campground! It was eerie listening to their hooves as they went by. There was elk poo all around our tent!

We camped at Moraine Campground last weekend. Moraine Campground is in RMNP and is at about 8100ft altitude. It was cold and we got snowed out the next day!

Lost Gulch Overlook

At the scenic Lost Gulch Overlook, on Flagstaff Road, Boulder, Colorado. The mountains in the distance are the Rockies and they had just got a fresh layer of snow from the weekend's storm.

Another picture (not mine) from the Lost Gulch Overlook:
A Panoramic view

Flower Fest - A for Alcea Rosea

Would you believe it but this gorgeous beauty is the Common Garden Hollyhock? It grows in tall flowering spires and is very easy to grow. Either that or my neighbor has a very green thumb. Yes! Every summer these attractive semi-double flowers grow tall along the property line between my home and my neighbor's. If his property weren't elevated by a few feet, I could almost claim that the flowers were mine. In the ultimate analysis, it matters not cos I think I enjoy them more than anyone else!!


Depending on which growing zone you're in, these can be grown as annuals, biennials or perennials and may even reseed themselves. Since we are in Zone 5 in Colorado, this is grown mainly as an annual. Hollyhock is from the same family as Althaea Officinalis, an herb that was used treat swelling in horses' hocks or humans' ankles. This herb was known as the hock leaf. Hollyhock flowers vary in color from white to pink to even dark chocolate. Since they cross-pollinate, it's recommended to stay with one color, especially if you want to grow them again from seed the following year.



This is my first entry for the letter A in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers, which starts today!

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is A. I will be submitting photographs of flowers as my entries. My entry is A for Alcea Rosea, the Common Garden Hollyhock. I have learned so much about Alcea Rosea because of The Flower Fest, that I am considering growing it next year. Then again, I might decide to remain lazy and enjoy the fruits er...flowers of my neighbor's labor!

Tags: Flower Fest, Alcea Rosea, Hollyhock

Emerald Lake, Dream Lake, Nymph Lake

After all those pictures I'd seen of Dream Lake, I was very keen on doing a hike to one of Rocky Mountains National Park's scenic lakes. The hike starts off at Bear Lake, and is a very comfortable trail that gains 425 feet to end up at 9900 ft at Dream Lake. The hike is only 1.1 miles from Bear Lake. Emerald Lake was like the proverbial cherry on the icing and we ambled over only because it was only 0.7 miles further. The gain in altitude is another 200 ft or so, I am not entirely sure. What I do know is that Emerald Lake is just over 10,080ft. The round trip was less than 4 miles but it was the best bit of exercise I have done in a long long time.

Looking up at the peaks around us, we found Longs Peak, the only fourteener in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Keyboard of the Winds and the Pagoda Mountain


After a relatively steep uphill walk that had us breathing deeply, the trail platueaud off at a beautiful calm lake, Nymph Lake.


Hallett Peak towered over Nymph Lake and beckoned us closer to Dream Lake.


After gaining some more altitude, we stopped at what some other young Indians called 'Patel Point' to take family pictures as well as of the wonderful vista that lay around us. You can see the storm clouds beginning to gain momentum in the distance.


Before we knew it, the skies had cleared and we were at Dream Lake.


We took a short break on a rock by the lake to have lunch. The sun came out and we were fried as we sat there looking up at Hallett Peak on the left, Tyndall Gorge in the middle and Flattop Mountain on the right. It's hard to believe that the mountain with the jagged edges is really flat at the top!


About a half hour later we were at Emerald Lake.


The mallards on the lake seemed to have no fear of people and came quite close to us. Just like the trout on Dream Lake. I think they were hoping for some food! On our way down, we met some rock scramblers who had scrambled up to the top of the waterfalls seen in the Emerald Lake picture above. It took them an hour 40 minutes to get there and barely twenty minutes to come down!

I cannot capture the beauty of this place with my camera. I either don't know how, which is more likely, or it's just not possible to do justice to the raw magnificence of these mountains.

Flattop Mountain enthralls me. The trail to the top is a strenous climb and gains about 2800 ft in altitude. We're going to need to get really fit if we have to do it.


As quickly as the skies had cleared, the clouds moved in again. We made it back to Bear Lake to just in time to hear loud claps of thunder and a steadily increasing downpour. We returned home, tired but very very content. What is it about the mountains? I can't seem to get enough!