630 degrees!

What a difference a week makes!  We've seen how quickly flowers start blooming, but when you get 7 days of 90 degrees (7 x 90 = 630, that is!) all the plants start to go into retreat.  Last week I mentioned how the top of the Hayden trail was full of color.  Well, this week things have really quieted down.  Although everything is still blooming, many of the plants don't have as many blooms and some of the color has faded.  Some cooler weather and rain would help.

As I was coming down the Hayden trail I did get one surprise.  On the side of the trail were several Nodding Onions with their purple blossoms nodding in the breeze.  We see Wild all over the mountain early in the year, but these tend to show up in the heat of summer.  The first time I saw them was after the big fire in 2008.  In an area of burned out Mountain Mahogany the Nodding Onions were sprouting, oblivious to the devastation that had just occurred, or maybe even helped by the heat.  The onions pictured below don't have as much color as the ones I saw the other day.

Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)

When you're out on the mountain this week there are still lots of Purple and White Prairie Clover and Liatris (Gayfeather).  Also providing the gold color to the scene are the Bush and Common Sunflowers, Golden Asters and Curly-tip Gumweed.  Just starting to come out are Rabbitbrush, Goldeneye, and Klamathweed, more gold for the hills!

Gayfeather (Liatris punctata)

Let's hope for some rain and freshen up the mountain!

Non-native planting--Mistakes were made...

The other night we were driving home with the windows down and I caught a sweet smell of summer.  It only lasted for a minute before I realized it was Russian Olive.  Too late-- my nose was already plugging up.  I seem to fall for it every year!

Russian Olive is another of the invasive species we've introduced intentionally and now regret.  Although some birds like the olives, the trees are very dense (and thorny!) and crowd out native cottonwoods and willows.  In turn this influences native bird populations.  The last few years I've noticed lots more jays in the area--even eastern Blue Jays.  I don't know much about birds, but wonder what changes we've made to the environment to encourage them.  Although these trees were once sold in nurseries, they're now outlawed and we're encouraged to get rid of the trees.  Easier said than done!

Russian Olive (Elaegnus angustifolia)

A neighbor recommended I mention another non-native, and one that I really enjoy-- Chicory.  It's a weed, but the blue petals in the middle of summer add some needed color on these hot mornings.  Chicory starts blooming about the time flax dies out, and with similar colors it's almost an even trade!  You'll see it blooming in disturbed areas, especially along access roads into the Open Space.

Chicory is a native of Europe, but it's been cultivated in North America because it has edible greens and roots.  The roots are dried and ground to be used as a coffee substitute, and you can still find Chicory coffee as a specialty from New Orleans.  

Chicory (Elaegnus angustifolia)

Green Gentians and Mid-summer Color

I've spent the last two weeks in Crested Butte for the Wildflower Festival and the midsummer madness that is Wildflower Season.  While I was up there my tablet decided to quit so I wasn't able to blog.  /the Festival was great.  I lead two wildflower hikes relating the geology to the wildflowers, and a couple other Wildflower Identification hikes.  Any time I get to spend that much time hiking through the woods and meadows, you spot all sorts of interesting things.  

One of my favorite flowers up there, and one that we occasionally see on Green Mountain, is the Green Gentian or Monument Plant.  It's unlike any other gentian, which are usually small purple flowers that bloom in late summer.  This one grows to 6' tall and is covered with four-leafed green blossoms.In mountain meadows you find them blooming fairly commonly, but it's not an easy life for these big showy plants.  

Green Gentians are monocarpic, meaning they flower once and die.  But this flowering happens at the end of a long life, since at high altitudes, or even at our moderate elevation of 6000'+, it takes a long time for the plants to become big enough to flower.  For most of its life, the Green Gentian appears as a bunch of shiny leaves low to the ground.  When it finally has enough strength accumulated, it's bursts forth, producing a shower of seeds to start the cycle over again.  Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab (RMBL), in Gothic, Colorado, have watched the same plants as they re-leaf every spring--for over 40 years!  It's thought that many Green Gentians live 60 years before blooming.  Talk about patience!

Green Gentian (Frasera speciosa) waiting patiently

Green Gentian finally blooming!

Now, back to Green Mountain!  After being gone a couple weeks I wasn't sure what the mountain would look like, but it seems the cool (compared to the last few years) summer has kept things looking great.  This year I'mm seeing lots of Purple Prairie Clover, one of my favorites.  When I first saw it several years ago, there was one small patch in a rocky soil in a protected area.  I thought it must be out of its normal range since there was only that small area.  But in the last few years it's spread and this year can be found in many locations.  One of the best is at the top of the John O. Hayden Trail as you contour near the radio tower.  On that stretch the pink Sticky Geraniums, Purple Prairie Clover, Prairie Coneflower and Bush Sunflowers are abundant.  Soon the Liatris (Gayfeather) will add more purple spikes to the landscape.

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea) with Golden Asters