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| Colorado Blue Columbine |
Winter is here now but not so long ago, the snow-covered meadows were blanketed with colorful blossoms that attracted bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and the artist’s eye. The most revered of these lovely wildflowers is the iconic Rocky Mountain Columbine which blooms from mid-May through July.
An avid hiker named Edwin James first discovered the blue columbine while scaling the steep slopes of Pikes Peak. This hardy perennial thrives at high altitude in the mountain west from the foothills up to the alpine.
Because of its magnificent display of blue-violet petals, white cup and yellow center, the Rocky Mountain Columbine was designated Colorado’s official state flower in 1899. The elegant, triadic, color scheme is a perfect fit because the blue symbolizes the sky, white our eternal snow and yellow our rich gold mining history.
Reclusive despite its beauty, the lovely flower favors moist, rocky soil and it prefers to hide along small streams, near an aspen grove or in the shade of a ponderosa pine tree. After an especially wet spring, I find them more showy in the damp gulches where they sway gently in the warm, summer breeze.
Even though the columbine is successfully adapted to growing here, every fall it must still obediently succumb to the natural rhythm of life. We may be descending into the dark season when the fields are barren but I have bittersweet memories of last summer and those vivid buttercups clinging so delicately to the edges of a dusty trail.
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| Along the edges of a dusty trail |
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| They thrive at high altitude |
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| A magnificent display |
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| Colorado's state flower |
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| Reclusive despite its beauty |
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| A revered wildflower |
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| Showy in a damp gulch |
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| They favor moist, rocky soil |
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| Bittersweet memories |
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| Prefers to hide in the shade |
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