When do wildflowers bloom in Colorado?

DENVER (KDVR) — This April brought a lot of rain and snow in Denver weather, making for the wettest April of the 21st century so far. But on the bright side of the dark clouds, as they say, April showers bring May flowers.

Colorado’s unique geography allows for a very diverse assortment of wildflowers to grow here.

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“In context to how many native plants are native to other states in the U.S., we actually have really high diversity, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we have so many zones of life as elevation increases,” Colorado State University assistant professor of horticulture Jennifer Bousselot said.

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Bousselot explained to FOX31 that there are two main factors that impact when wildflowers bloom: elevation and water.

The elevation impact has to do with temperatures. Bousselot said temperatures can’t be too hot or too cold and must be just right for peak blooms.

As for water, Bousselot explained that the wildflowers need an even distribution over the winter in order to keep their roots healthy enough to produce good flowers. However, it must be just the right distribution as too much water can result in root rot, but they at least need enough to maintain their life before they can reproduce.

The lower elevations of Colorado are where wildflowers bloom first in general. Some species differ, but for the most part, Bousselot said the higher you go up in elevation, the later wildflowers bloom.

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“The way I always think of it, it’s sort of like, you know, grabbing a paintbrush and drawing from the lowest elevation to the highest over time,” Bousselot said.

Some species have different blooming times though. For example, Bousselot described a flower called pasque as a bowl-shaped purple flower with a yellow center and a fuzzy seed head. Pasque flowers already bloomed along the Front Range and lower elevations in March. Now it’s blooming in the mid-elevations, and by July it will be blooming in the highest elevations.

In Denver, wildflower blooming peaks around the end of May and the beginning of June, depending on conditions. Bousselot said Denver’s peak bloom varies based on how wet May is.

Later in the season, another round of wildflowers typically blooms in mid-September along the Front Range, and sometimes they last through November.

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Bousselot said her favorite wildflower that blooms in Denver is the mariposa lily.

“It is this creamy white, tulip-shaped flower with very slender foliage. It looks like if you could create a plant that was the absolute epitome of beauty and grace, it would be that one,” Bousselot said.

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She is also growing another one of her favorite wildflowers, the Indian paintbrush, at the CSU Spur campus in the Denver Terra Building on the green roof. The campus is free and open to the public on weekdays and every second Saturday, so the public can see the wildflowers there.

Wildflowers are blooming on the green roof now, but Bousselot said it is two weeks to a month earlier than the rest of Denver because the altered environment on the green roof is a couple of zones warmer than the ground.

“Right now we have Indian paintbrush in full bloom, which has been in bloom for several weeks, but it’s not started on the ground yet,” Bousselot said.

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She said she was stunned to see the blooms on the roof for the first time, and described them as like a carpet of reddish-orange flowers along with some purple and white flowers mixed in.

“My research is really fundamental to my identity, so I literally was tearing up,” she said.

The sand lily is one that Bousselot said will likely bloom soon, as well as wild flax.

Tips for viewing wildflowers

For those hoping to see Colorado’s wildflowers this year, Bousselot recommends taking time to check out the wildflowers in different settings across the state.

“Schedule a visit at increasing elevations over the entire season so you actually really get to see them all,” Bousselot said.

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She recommends checking out the wildflower festival in Crested Butte in July. She said Crested Butte is like the epicenter for wildflowers thanks to a consistent snowpack.

Notably, she said wildflowers can be found almost anywhere if you look carefully.

“Most natural areas in along the front range, if they haven’t been recently disturbed, you may have to walk a bit, hike a bit to see a large diversity, but you can see a lot,” Bousselot said.

Otherwise, Bousselot said Denver Botanic Gardens’ Chatfield Farms, Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge and Chautauqua Park in Boulder are great places to see wildflowers.

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