As Colorado rolls into arguably its most beautiful time of year, even the most barren foothills lining the Front Range turn a vibrant green for a few weeks. If you look closer at this lush ground cover, you’ll be amazed at the detail within the rainbow hues sprouting amid the greenery.
Related: Colorado wildflowers are blooming early, with some areas peaking now
Meadows, lakeshores, riverbanks, and forest floors take on a multi-colored lining and large swaths of vibrant purple, red, orange, and yellow. The Centennial state is home to countless varieties of wildflowers, but here are some of the most striking.
Columbine
You can find Colorado’s state flower in at least three color varieties–rich shades of red, yellow, and purple—but white and lavender are the classics.
It sits either alone or in bushy clusters, mostly in forested areas and meadows without intense direct sun. It begins to bloom in lower elevations in June but hits its peak in July and August.
Columbines grow rampantly at Trappers Lake near Steamboat Springs. In Rocky Mountain National Park near Cony Lake and on the way up Cony Pass, They can be found in profuse quantities even in late June and above treeline near snowfields.
Paintbrush
These also come in various colors and can be found in the foothills, high desert, and alpine slopes throughout the state as early as April and as late as September.
The scarlet variety is the most common color around Colorado. Still, you’ll also find paintbrushes running to the warm side of the color wheel — in several shades of orange, yellow, and even off-white.
If you look closely, the flowers are the green tubes poking out of the colorful bunches.
Green Mountain on the west side of Denver is awash in paintbrush blooms in April, May, and June.
You can find entire slopes and alpine meadows covered in them in Colorado’s high country in June and July, particularly in the San Juan Mountains.
You might even spot a few lingering paintbrushes in shaded areas near Grand Junction and the Western Slope in September.
Fireweed
Named because it is one of the first plants to spring from the ground after the earth is destroyed by wildfire, these gorgeous, tall stalks feature flowers ranging from orange to magenta and can cover entire swaths of land with their vibrant colors.
A truly thriving organism, fireweed can grow in just about any landscape – grassland, pine forests, high desert, you name it.
There are small seas of them in various areas.
Vail Mountain comes to mind, where you’ll find them on not one but two short (about 1.5 miles each) trails at the top of the Eagles Nest gondola aptly named Upper and Lower Fireweed.
In Crested Butte, you’ll also see the statuesque plants brimming along the 401 Trail.
Prairie crocus
Also called Pasqueflower or Pulsatilla patens, you probably didn’t know these beautiful bulbs could grow in the wild.
However, the sweet white/pink/lavender blooms with their yellow faces sprout in numerous high alpine areas almost immediately after the snow melts.
Although they look delicate, their hairy, wooly stems are a testament to their hardiness.
They typically disappear by about mid-June, but in late spring and early summer, you’ll find them along the Frisco shores of Lake Dillon and as early as April in Colorado Springs’ Palmer Park.
Bluebell
Look for these clusters of shy, blue and purplish blooms tucked into high grassy areas along the Front Range as well as in small clumps amid pine forests.
Growing low to the ground, their hues can also come in whites and pinks.
For a surefire glimpse of them or even (in June and early July) massive swaths, head to Bluebell Mesa in Boulder.
Wild Iris
See these beauties through August in marshy areas (they prefer wetlands) or surrounding ponds and lakes.
They’re also not afraid of high elevation. Entire fields of them can be found at 10,000 feet or higher in South Park.
Also, the short (0.7-mile Wild Iris Loop) near Three Sisters Park in Evergreen is so named for good reason.
Silvery Lupine
Silvery Lupine, more accurately a bluish purple (but they can also be white), lines the landscape — forests, meadows, roadsides, and mountaintops — through August.
They grow in cylindrical, sometimes cone-shaped stalks, rising cheerily above surrounding high grass.
They are abundant across the state, but for a magical viewing experience, grab your mountain bike and head to the Lupine Trails in Crested Butte.
Heartleaf Arnica
Flaming up from the forest floor in vibrant yellow clusters, Arnica prefers darker, moist areas such as shaded mountain trails.
While the yellow petals are elongated with three prongs at the end, the leaves of these delicate, ground-sprouting plants are indeed heart-shaped.
In July and August, you’ll see little communities of this flower growing along the shores of Lawn Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Wild Rose
Like all roses, they grow on thorny shrubs, but their stems bear small prickles rather than thick thorns. These delicate pink treasures range in color from pale to rich magenta.
They prefer dryer areas and can be found in shrubs and thickets in Colorado’s lowest and highest growing elevations, from forests and meadows.
Regardless of color, wild roses always feature five petals, and while they start blooming in spring, they can last well into September in the high country.
Brainard Lake is a great area to spot them in late summer.
Scentless Chamomile
(Editor’s note: A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Agriculture warns that scentless chamomile, is considered a noxious weed and should be eliminated, adding that “Many of our most destructive noxious weeds are introduced due to their visual appeal. The state’s designation of the flower is based on scientific evidence and data and is considered the standard on which weed management plans are based.”)
It’s probably not the best idea to make tea out of this daisy-like flower with white petals and a yellow center. Emanating no or very little fragrance and growing profusely in bushes to heights up to three feet, Scentless Chamomile is not native to Colorado.
A European plant, it is considered an invasive species by the state of Colorado’s agriculture department — but nobody can argue that it isn’t pretty.
You’ll see these cheerful beauties in forested areas, drainage ditches and lining roadways and train tracks from May to October.
