We had lots of rain this spring, so the cactus are blooming. They don't bloom every year.
Wildflowers abound in Colorado during the spring and summer, but they’re not very big. Occasionally you’ll see a large patch, but often you must look rather closely as most are less than an inch in diameter.
I'm not sure what these are, other than blue. They grow on little stalks; what you see here is probably eight inches long.
I like the little blue flowers. They look much like some solitary blue flowers I’ve seen, but I don’t know if they’re related. If you can identify any of the flowers on this site, please comment on the appropriate article.
The Mule’s Ears grow in clumps, sometimes large, and usually with more nearby. These are by far the largest wildflowers I’ve seen in Colorado.
When the high country opens, which it will soon at the rate the snow is melting, I’ll find many more wildflowers. The Columbines grow only at very high altitudes—nearly at tree line, which around here is around 11,000 feet. By then the flowers shown here will have gone to seed.
The problem with such tiny flowers is convincing the point-and-shoot to focus on the right thing. This is an excerpt from a much larger image.
These are the biggest wildflowers around, with the diameter of each flower a good two inches or more. These are called Mule's Ears for reasons that escape me. I've been places where whole fields are full of these flowers.
Wonderful, Dave!