wildflowers – Amy Law, Science Geek

Pollinator Week — Bees

One of the pollinators we are most familiar with are bees. I love to take pictures of these gals — no idea why. But they have given me some of my very best photos. Bees are special among insects because they are covered in hairs. The hairs pick up pollen for them. Bees go fromContinue reading “Pollinator Week — Bees”

Wildlife Still Active

First, a correction to my last post: Although we got a solid inch of snow, Denver proper did not. We are 800 feet higher than Denver, and frequently get precipitation when they don’t. The take-home? Denver has blown past the previous record for latest snow fall, with no relief in sight. As of November 30,Continue reading “Wildlife Still Active”

Alpine flowers on Mt. Evans

I finally made it up to the tundra yesterday, not Trail Ridge Road this time, but Mt. Evans, outside of Denver. Mt. Evans is nearly unique in the world in that it is a 14,130 foot mountain with a road essentially to the top (you have to park and walk the last thirty feet orContinue reading “Alpine flowers on Mt. Evans”

Spring Has Sprung, the Flower Show has Started.

Two years of plentiful moisture and a gently-warming spring means that the wild flowers are exploding. Right now, in the foothills west of the Denver-Boulder area, wild American plums are producing a blizzard of fragrant white blossoms. In some places, it is like walking down a corridor lined with flowers. Plums, like apples, cherries andContinue reading “Spring Has Sprung, the Flower Show has Started.”

Great Wildflower, Part 2

From our great spring crop of blooms, (http://coloradogeography.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/get-out/) this continues to be an outstanding season for wildflowers. Every time we begin to dry out, we get a rainstorm that waters the plants. And the flowers just keep comin’. According to the USDA Plants Profile webpage, http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MOFI&photoID=mofi_004_ahp.tif you can find pink bergamot all over North America.Continue reading “Great Wildflower, Part 2”

Get Out!

Looking back to make sure that winter didn’t reach out and take hold of us one last time, I almost missed that spring has arrived. And what a spring it promises to be! Last September’s torrential rains dumped up to twenty inches of rain in some areas along the Colorado Front Range. Before the rainsContinue reading “Get Out!”