Rocky BLOOMS

So much beauty we need to look after!

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy

Plants blooming in Rocky right now

by Marlene Borneman

Snow, hail, graupel, rain, cloudy, windy, sunny, warm, cold—all ingredients of spring time in Rocky! Here in the mountains, erratic, unpredictable, fickle, and unstable define the months of April and May.

Rocky is full of surprises. On a warm, sunny day in mid-May, 2017, while investigating what was blooming on the trails, something brilliantly white caught my eye. I recognized the small-flowered woodland star, Lithophragma parviflorum.

Small-flowered woodland star, a rare native flower

Photo by Marlene Borneman

I was thrilled because I had never seen this plant in Rocky. The very next day a snowstorm hit the park leaving about 31 inches of snow in its wake. I felt blessed to have spotted this uncommon wildflower the day before the storm.

Depending on snowpack and temperatures, a rainbow of native wildflowers will soon be appearing in the foothills and montane life zones. The first popping up in cold, snowy weather are hardy pasque flowers.

Pasque flowers

Photo by Pamela Johnson

These lavender/bluish flowers have been called “April Fools,” perhaps because they bloom about April 1 and then at times are snowed under and disappear. They usually grow in patches along trails in the Lumpy Ridge and Upper Beaver Meadows areas.

Easter daises are next on the scene. They are found hugging the ground around Easter time, thus the common name. The bright white daisy is easy to spot on sunny hillsides.

Easter daisies

Photo by Marlene Borneman

Yellow flowers, the most radiant of all colors on the spectrum, catch my attention in late April and May. The glossy yellow faces of sage buttercups are found along roadsides and slopes in the Moraine Park area.

Oregon grape and Nuttall's violets are most abundant along the Cub Lake and Fern Lake trails. I often get asked about another small yellow flower blooming in April/May/June. It is not a flower at all! This is Fendler's rockcress, a member of the mustard family. Puccinia monoica is a rust (a type of fungus) that infects several species of the mustard family. It forms a yellow bumpy structure on the plant’s leaves mimicking a flower. They are interesting to look at with a hand lens.

Fendler's rockcress, a native plant, infected with a fungus that causes a bumpy, yellow rust on the leaves. This isn't a flower but is often mistaken for one!

Photo by Marlene Borneman

Lumpy Ridge, Black Canyon, Bridal Veil Falls, North Boundary, Upper Beaver Meadows Mill Creek Basin, Fern Lake, Cub Lake, Moraine Park, and Shadow Mountain are the best trails/areas to focus on for spring flowering. Don't forget to take a walk up Trail Ridge Road in May. You may be astounded by how many flowers are in bloom!

Ball cactus blooms, native wildflower

Photo by Marlene Borneman

Noxious weeds, also referred to as invasive plants, will be blooming in the park. The definition of a noxious weed is an alien plant designated noxious due to its invasive nature. It causes environmental and economic damage to the extent that control measures are needed.

Common mullein, a noxious weed

Photo by Marlene Borneman

Here are a few of the most egregious in the park: common mullein, hoary alyssum, houndstongue, musk thistle, Canada thistle, and knapweed. I'm tempted to yank them as I pass by, but “no.” Rocky has a knowledgeable and efficient department of rangers/researchers with an Exotic Plant Management Plan. The park also has volunteers that help with weed removal, appropropriately named Weed Warriors. So please do not pull any weeds, but you may report sightings at the park visitor centers.

Houndstounge, a noxious weed

photo by Marlene Borneman

I can certainly appreciate everyone wanting to get out viewing the glorious wildflowers after this long, long winter; however, please remember wildflower ethics. It is illegal to pick wildflowers in national parks and some state parks simply because it can damage the ecosystem. How you may ask? Plants need to reproduce. Picking and digging up wildflowers reduces a plant's ability to reproduce and will affect its longterm survival in that location.

Fairy bells, a native wildflower

Photo by Marlene Borneman

Picking wildflowers can adversely affect pollinators and other animals that depend on that species for food and/or shelter. Picking wildflowers prevents other visitors from enjoying their beauty. Most wildflowers wilt and perish soon after being picked and most do not survive being transplanted especially wild orchids and lilies. I use a quote from Al Schneider, a wildflower expert, “Admire them in the wild and let them live.”

While wild-flowering in the spring months through early summer BEWARE, you may not be alone. The Rocky Mountain wood tick, which is able to transmit Rocky mountain spotted fever, are also out and about, eager to find a host. A few preventive measures will help you stay tick free: use insect repellents that contain DEET, wear long sleeves and long pants with bottoms tucked into socks, do tick checks every hour or so, and search clothes and body as soon as you arrive home.

Marlene has been photographing Colorado's wildflowers while on her hiking and climbing adventures since 1979. Marlene has climbed Colorado's 54 14ers and the 126 USGS named peaks in Rocky. She is the author of Rocky Mountain Wildflowers 2Ed, The Best Front Range Wildflower Hikes, and Rocky Mountain Alpine Flowers, published by CMC Press and avaialble from the Rocky Mountain Conservancy or the CMC Press online bookstore. She has also created the “Spring Wildflower Identification” quiz for this issue of HIKE ROCKY.