It’s incredible what a little warm weather does to the blossoming progress of wildflowers. Here are some that I’ve seen in the last two days near here.
Big sagebrush Artemesia tridentata flowers. This is a critical plant for sustaining deer and elk during the winter months. It is even more nourishing than alfalfa! I read recently that a wildfire killed most of these plants in one area of Wyoming and there was a 60% mortality rate in that area for mule deer over the winter.
Hawthorn Crataegus. These thorny trees are prolific in this part of Montana and produce berries that I don’t find good tasting but I think the birds do. The wood from its stems is extremely hard and durable: it’s a little gnarly but I make my hiking staffs from it.
Serviceberry Amelanchier produces one of my favorite berries for mid to late summer. They have a very light taste and so are not useful for pies of jellies, but are delicious and nutritious. I find them best if you take a whole handful at once: that way they will flood your mouth with flavor!
Large-flowered false dandelion Agoseris glauca
Large-flowered false dandelion Agoseris glauca
Douglas wild hyacinth Brodiaea douglasii (couldn’t resist one more photo of this)
Goatsbeard Tragopogon dubius. When I was a boy we referred to this as “milkweed”, which it isn’t, but when picked, the stems do exude a milky substance. When the blossom matures it forms a seed canopy similar to that of the dandelions only much larger.
Chokecherry Prunus virginiana. I always look forward to both the beautiful blossoms and later to the ripe fruit for jelly and syrup. These are very prolific and are a major food source for bears as they fatten up for winter.
Wayside gromwell Lithospermum ruderale
