Wet Trails

I didn't go out on the mountain this weekend. With all the snow (and more right now) I don't like to go on the soggy trails. Green Mountain has very thin soils so any knobby tires or boots deepen the trails. When the trails get rutted, then people braid them trying to find a dry path. The wider trails allow invasive plants to move in--things like knapweed--so that's why i try to keep the trails narrow.  It's better to visit a place like Roxborough Park on weekends like this. There the gravelly soil drains better. It'll be dry on Green Mountain soon. Maybe!

A few early bloomers

Slowly but surely the mountain is waking up, but with another snow, nothing's in a hurry.  On the north side of the mountain I saw several biscuit roots (Lomatium orientale) blooming.  Other than that only the violets near the Utah trailhead.  Now two plants are blooming.  Looks like cold weather again with some more moisture.  It'll just make June all the better!

Biscuit root is in the Apiaceae--Celery Family-- which you can tell if you look at the leaves.  In this picture the leaves are still unfolding. The flowers are grouped together in an umbel (like umbrella).  If you could zoom in enough you'd see that the individual flowers aren't open yet.  

If you're out this weekend, it's supposed to be warm, so you may some more flowers opening up.

First blooms!

The first flowers!  It's not much but I found a couple yellow violets (Viola nuttallii) on the south side of Green Mountain just up from the Utah parking area. These violets are interesting in that they attract bumblebees and butterflies, but if there aren't many pollinators, they also produce a later type of flower which is self-pollinating and is a backup to the showy early flowers.

Yellow Violet (Viola nuttallii)

The mountain is greening up, but the wildflowers are still developing their first leaves.  Once the violets start, they are usually a bunch more within the next week or two.  With a storm predicted for next week hopefully we'll get some moisture that will give us a good year for flowers.  

Early flowers

Another blizzard, but the snows are melting fast these days.  In a week or so Green Mountain will be drying up and we should see some of the first wildflowers on the south side of the mountain.  First up will be things like Storksbill (Erodium cicutarium) and Early Purple Vetch 
(Astragalus shortianus).  

Storksbill

Early Purple Vetch

About the same time Salt and Pepper (Lomatium orientale) and Musineon (Musineon divaricatum) will show up .  These are some of the early less conspicuous flowers of the season but they're fun to see because that signals the start of Spring.  Temps in the 60's this weekend will have the trees starting to bud.  The snow will be off the streets and Spring will be here!

Intro--Green Mountain wildflowers

What's blooming on Green Mountain, Lakewood, Colorado--the first foothill

There's a blizzard on Green Mountain this morning, but that's to be expected in March.  It's been such a dry winter this will really help the wildflowers get a good drink so they can put on a show for us.  

I've been keeping track of when things bloom on the mountain for the last 10 years and thought I'd blog about it to let you know what you might find when you go hiking or biking on the mountain.

The first bloomers usually come out this month--storksbill, followed soon by sand lilies, biscuitroot and musineon.  Then come the showier blossoms of Spring when the cherry and plum trees bloom and the paintbrush and penstemons show their color.

My name is Tom, but I blog as GM Runner since that's usually how I get around to see what's out.  I'm an apprentice Native Plant Master, and taking a class on Green Mountain last year gave me the idea to let other folks know what to look for at different times of the year.

I'll update again when the snow melts and the sun starts things growing.  Until then, enjoy the snow!