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Glacier Lily
Bozeman, Montana
2007

I didn’t get going on my flower photo-taking binge right at the start of flower season this year so I missed some of my favorite flowers. So over the next three days I’m going to post photos from several years ago of a few of the flowers that appear right after the snow melts.

Yarrow
Bozeman, Montana
2011

With it’s tall, lanky, almost weedy build, yarrow isn’t the best looking flower around. But in the right light it can be pretty showy.

Sulfur Paintbrush
Bozeman, Montana
2011

Indian Paintbrush, which generally comes in bright red or scarlet colors but can also be found in shades of orange, salmon and other reddish hues,  is one of my favorite wildflowers. When we first moved to Bozeman we had three little Indian Paintbrush plants that bloomed in the same spot for several years in a row and then disappeared. There are some on our neighbor’s property higher up on the mountain behind us, but right near our house we have seen no more. So we have had to settle for the related Sulfur Paintbrush, which is nice but not nearly as spectacular.

Lance-Leaved Stonecrop
Bozeman, Montana
2011

This flower definitely prefers the drier rockier areas, and it is a succulent, a characteristic I always associate with desert plants. But it actually grows in a range that extends from New Mexico all the way to southern Alaska and the Yukon. The bright yellow color of the flower in this photo was enhanced not by Photoshop but by the setting sun which was casting a yellow glow on everything.

Harebell
Bozeman, Montana
2011

I usually associate Harebells with early spring and the wettest, shadiest, parts of our property. I think that’s generally true but I found these growing in the heat of July on the dry, rocky south-facing ridge behind our house.

Crested Beardtongue
Bozeman, Montana
2011

This is a bluer and by far more showy specimen of crested beardtongue than what we usually see around here. It must be sitting on the right patch of soil.

Woods Rose
Bozeman, Montana
2011

Wild roses are quite abundant on our property and seem to thrive on abuse, at least to a point. Some have sprung up right next to the porch and they occasionally get trampled only to come back even thicker. Perhaps this is an evolutionary adaptation resulting from having to be able to withstand not so dainty bears that like to feed on rose hips in the fall.

Field Chickweed
Bozeman, Montana
2011

It’s got weed in it’s name and it’s in our Weeds of the West book, but it’s also in two of our wildflower books. So which is it, a weed or a wildflower? Maybe they’re not mutually exclusive categories. I guess I’m going with the wildflower book which says “Many chickweeds are troublesome weeds of field and garden and have small unattractive flowers. The field chickweed, however, is neither weedy nor unattractive.”

Rosy Pussytoes
Bozeman, Montana
2011

My flower book says “According to herbalists, pussytoes is a mild astringent herb, useful in quieting  simple intestinal and liver inflammations.” I don’t know about that, but like real cat feet, touching their soft pads can quiet simple mental inflammations.

Douglas’ Wild Hyacinth
Bozeman, Montana
2011

I wasn’t familiar with what a domestic hyacinth looked like so had to look it up on the internet. There’s not a huge resemblance to this wild variety, except perhaps in the color. While the domestic variety is definitely more showy, the wild form has it’s own more subtle elegance.