Memorial Day 2010

A couple more pictures from yesterday;s hike. Blue mist penstemon and American vetch. I noticed Indian paintbrush blooming today near Colorado Springs.

Rattlesnake Ridge II

This morning was a bonanza of new flowers in bloom. We saw a field of yellow & orange blooms as we approached the top of the ridge. They  turned out to be Evening primroses (Oenothera sp.). The orange were the wilted flowers. Along with the primroses was Scarlet gaura (Gaura coccinea). We went a few feet further on and spotted a one-sided penstemon (Penstemon secundiflorus). On the ridge top, on shaly soil, was blue mist penstemon (Penstemon virens). Other plants we found were Wild Onion (Allium textile), American vetch (Vicia americana) and declining chokecherry flowers.

More Weeds

Common mallow and bindweed are also in full bloom right now.

Memorial Day Weekend-1

We've jumped headlong into summer weather this week. Some yellow, semi-weedy flowers are now blooming. Black medic (medicago lupulina), Yellow sweetclover (Melilotus officinalis), and Yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius major) all popped out in force this week.

Deer Creek Canyon

Rainy, cold weather the past two weekends kept me close to home, but today was sunny and warm. We were rewarded with a whole new cast of wildflowers at Deer Creek Canyon and Pine Valley Ranch Open Space Parks. Here's the list: Narrow-leaf puccoon (Lithospermum incisum), Sand lily (Leucocrinum montanum), Mouse-eared chickweed -see photo (Cerastium sp.), Spring beauty (Claytonia rosea), Yellow violet -see photo (Viola nuttallii), Boulder raspberry (Oreobatus deliciosus), Chokecherry (Padus virginiana), Larkspur see photo (Delphinium nuttallianum), Chiming bells (Mertensia lanceolata), Western wallflower (Erysimum asperum), Pussytoes (Antennaria sp.), Wavy leaf dandelion (Nothocalais cuspidata), Death camas (Toxicoscordion venenosum), Early purple vetch (Astragalus shortianus), 2 other unidentified vetches, an unknown senecio, Creeping holly-grape (Mahonia repens), Silverweed (Argentina anserina), and Golden smoke (Corydalis aurea)

May Morning Walk

Every day now we find a couple of new bloomers. Today it was Lanceleaf Chiming Bells (Mertensia lanceolata) and Wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris or orthoceras). The wintercress was in a riparian area and the chiming bells were on a north-facing slope. Here's a mystery shrub from the south side of Harriman Lake.

Rattlesnake Ridge II

Here are pictures from yesterday's hike. Golden banner on the left and wax currant on the right.

Rattlesnake Ridge

This morning we walked over Rattlesnake Ridge just north of our home. We saw musineon (Musineon divaricatum), golden banner (Thermopsis divaricarpa), wax currant (Ribes cereum), and skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata) all blooming quite nicely. We took a drive up to the town of Keota in Weld County and golden currant (Ribes aureum) was in flower up there.