Aspens at their Peak

If you have the chance to get up to the High Country this weekend or next you'll see one of the best displays of Aspens in years.  The wet summer has stretched our wildflower season a bit but it's made the aspens healthy and they're showing their gratitude now.

If you look at a hillside of aspens you'll notice that they aren't always the same color.  There will be large patches of gold aspens, but you'll see areas where all the trees are red and other areas where they haven't started turning yet.

Aspens are trees that grow primarily from the spreading of their root system.  If you have any in your yard you may notice lots of little ones coming up around it.  These arise not from seeds, but from the roots.  This process creates large "forests" that are really all one organism.  Although we've just started to understand this cloning process, it appears that aspens form some of the largest organisms
in the world with the largest in Utah, and second largest in Colorado on Kebler Pass.

It's hard to tell exactly where one starts and the next begins, but when you see the big patches of color on the mountainside, salute the largest plants in the state!

Patches of different-colored Aspens cover the hillside

The end of a confusing summer

What better way to sum up the last half of Summer, but this photo from last week.  Here we are in early September, and a Mountain Ash not only has its bright orange berries, but is blooming again.  Throw on top of that a dusting of snow and you get the picture!  Not only is this Mountain Ash blooming, but we have flowers on a Forsythia, which normally is one of the first shrubs to bloom in the Spring.

Our summer rains have really confused the locals, but it's been great for soil moisture and should make for a great Spring wildflower season.  Many of the years with poorer showings are preceded by dry summers and windy dry winters.  What little snow we did get was blown away or melted quickly without really contributing much to the soil.  The soil is very thin on Green Mountain, so it takes a certain tough species to thrive.  Often you'll find natives growing next to rocks.  The heat they absorb probably helps them get going in the Spring, but also the moisture is funneled down to the roots.

Soil Profile on Green Mountain

In the photo above you can see how the top few inches of soil is darker, enriched by decaying plants.  The soil is still rocky, but there's plenty of room for roots tho thrive.  A soil like this can support many grasses and wildflowers.  If you're familiar with the mountain, though, you know that as you hike the trails you'll come across areas that are all cobbles.  This is an old river channel (more about that another time) that left all its gravel in place.  The soils in these areas is much thinner and it takes specialized plants to colonize it.

Fall is indeed upon us, despite the calendar. Sunday looks like a beautiful Indian Summer day, so I'm planning to get out on the trails and enjoy it!  The rabbitbrush is in full bloom, brightening the hillsides, and for another few weeks (hopefully) we can put off the colder weather!