Beeplant (Cleome serrulata)

Snow-on-the-mountain (Agaloma marginata)

Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium)



Smartweed (Perisicaria pensylvanica)

Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata)

I went out to a State Wildlife Area on the Republican River for work this past week and saw beeplant (Cleome serrulata) with a variety of pollinators doing their thing to the beeplants, buffalobur (Solanum rostratum), and snow-on-the-mountain (Agaloma marginata). At home, along an irrigation ditch and a drainageway, we saw a smartweed (Perisicaria pensylvanica) and mock cucumber (Echinocystis lobata). Rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) is blooming now, too.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything because we were on vacation. Now that we're home, we are out scouting out the few flowers the drought has left for us. Today we saw buffalobur (Solanum rostratum) and evening primrose (Oenothera villosa) in bloom.



Evening primrose (Oenothera villosa)

Buffalobur (Solanum rostratum)

Gayfeather (Liatris punctata)

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

It's mid-July and the flowers are fading with the heat. I saw gayfeather (Liatris punctata)  and mullein (Verbascum thapsus) blooming this morning on Rattlesnake Ridge. Maybe I should change the name of this area to Bullsnake Ridge because I saw a dead on on the street adjacent to the ridge.

The only new plan I saw this weekend is teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus), an alein plant. The leaves below the flower head are joined together into a cup. I'm familiar with the teasel species that has lavender flowers, but this one is white. Weber says this species with the white flowers was recently discovered in the Denver area.



Diffuse knapweed (Acosta diffusa)

The Green Mountain Dog Park this morning was very dried up. The 100 degree heat has taken its toll. Diffuse knapweed (Acosta diffusa) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) are blooming.

 peavine (Lathrys latifolius)

Indian hemp (Apocynum sibiricum)

It's over 100 degrees outside and that has curtailed my long walks for a few days. The alien  peavine (Lathrys latifolius) is blooming everywhere. I also found a lot of Indian hemp (Apocynum sibiricum) blooming last week along Clear creek in Prospect Park in Wheat Ridge. Weber distinguishes this species from A. cannabinum, however USDA PLANTS database has them as the same thing. Because the leaves on the plants I observed did not have petioles, I went with A. sibiricum for identification here.

 Locoweed (Oxytropis lambertii)

Waxflower (Jamesia americana)

Spurless blue columbine (Aquilegia coeruela daileyae)

Cutleaf evening primrose (Oenothera coronopifolia)

Sunday afternoon, Fathers' Day, was a trip to Reynold's Ranch. A lot of the flowers are looking pretty tough right now, probably from the heat and wind. The spurless columbine (Aquilegia coeruela daileyae) is almost done blooming for this year. I only saw 2 of them. There used to be more. Other blooming plants were cutleaf evening primrose (Oenothera coronopifolia), waxflower (Jamesia americana), locoweed (Oxytropis lambertii), wild onion (Allium geyeri), and Polemonium foliosissimum. Other things I saw were bedstraw, a white upine, and blue-eyed grass.



Polemonium foliosissimum.