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