Around Missoula, the ubiquitous buttercup came first.
At Blue Mountain, they are joined by the graceful arcs of yellow bells and the large, purple cups of pasqueflowers.
On Mount Sentinel, says University of Montana weed specialist Marilyn Marler, “the shooting stars are going strong.”
There’s also shrubby serviceberry, pale-petaled prairie star and whisps of prairie smoke - “it’s one of my personal favorites,” Marler says.
Up higher and farther out from town, in Pattee Canyon and the Rattlesnake Valley, glacier lillies are starting to unfurl their golden canopies.
And there’s evidence of more to come: a few arrowleaf balsamroots blooming here and there, pointy clumps of lupine leaves, and the dark green, fingerlike tines of the bitterroot n Montana’s state flower.
“Any day the larkspur should be blooming - but not quite yet,” Marler says.
Years ago as a college student, I hiked and biked the trails of western Montana, apparently blind to the bouquet at my feet.
In 2000, after returning from a year in eastern Idaho, I again headed out into Montana’s mountains and valleys. This time, I started to notice flashes of yellow, pink, purple and blue among the grasses and shrubs.
My interest piqued, I’d kneal or lay down for a closer look.
I dug out a camera that had sat idle in its box since I received it years earlier and snapped some pictures.
I bought a guidebook on wildflowers, then another.
I took notes.
Soon, I was hooked. I was fascinated by the colors and shapes of the wildflowers, and their complexity.
I’m no expert, but today I know the names and characteristics of many of the most common flowers. I know when and where to look for them. And I’m still on the hunt for blooms new to me.
This spring and summer, I’m going to share.
In Wildflower Walks, I’ll give you a picture and a brief description of a flower, and I’ll tell you where to find it around western Montana n from short walks on Missoula’s hillsides to hikes in the Bitterroot Mountains and treks up into the higher reaches of Glacier National Park.
Watch for Wildflower Walks on Fridays in Unwind.
News editor Justin Grigg can be reached at 523-5243 or at jgrigg@missoulian.com.
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