WILDFLOWER TRIPS
NATIONAL PARKS IN BLOOM
Wildflowers are among the most beautiful treasures in our National Parks, State Parks, Refuges, Reserves, and other public lands. From early spring to late fall, they bloom on public lands across the country in a rainbow of color. With hundreds of different varieties of plants, each blooming at its own scheduled time, there is always something wonderful to see.
As wilderness and wild lands are threatened by human encroachments, these floral beauties are one important reason why we need to preserve and protect our National Park System.
The wildflowers offer a compelling reason to put National Parks on your travel bucket list. Depending on when and where you venture out, you can often see massive displays, with wildflowers filling meadows and stretching out across wide swaths, from mountainsides to prairies.
You can plan your visit to see specific types of flowers in bloom or specific color combinations paint the land. Check out some ideas below.
The Cahaba lily is an aquatic flowering plant, which grows only in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. This beautiful variety of spiderlily belongs to the amaryllis family. Large 3-inch-wide white flowers unfurl from mid-May to mid-June. The lily only grows in swift-flowing water in sunny locations. The best place to see them is at Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, in Alabama.
Fireweed paints broad pinkish purple strokes at the edges of woods, trails, roads, rivers and streams. It is often the first plant that moves in and takes over after wildfires. Its tufted seeds are widely spread by the wind, so they colonize quickly. Fireweed is widely distributed throughout the western states. It extends north into Alaska where it fills in as glaciers recede.
One of the best places to see big vibrant areas of fireweed is at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, in Alaska.
Blue columbine loves the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Sometimes called Rocky Mountain Columbine or Colorado Blue Columbine, these pale blue flowers favor the altitudes, growing more than a mile above sea level.They bloom in early summer along mountain streams and damp meadows. Two of the best places to see them: Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area and Rocky Mountain National Park, in Colorado.
Wild Broadleaf Lupines look like more diminutive versions of the giant cultivated lupine. They spread out in lush purplish blue carpets on hillsides and meadows west of the Rocky Mountains. Broadleaf lupine can grow in elevations of up to 5,000 feet. Mount Rainier National Park, in Washington, is an especially beautiful place to see this flower.
Butterflies love Milkweed. In fact Monarch Butterflies depend on them exclusively for food. Adult females lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves and monarch caterpillars eat them. Milkweed habitats have been severely threatened due to urbanization and pesticide use, which in turn threatens the butterflies too.
These wildflowers are found in all but seven western states, grows in the sunny, well-drained soils of prairies, open woods, canyons and hillsides. Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a great place to spend some quality time with milkweed.
Rhododendrons bloom in the Appalachian Mountains in June and July. The green mountains rock and roll in the background, accented by bright pink flowers. They flower at different times, depending on their elevations. Take a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway or hike the Appalachian Trail to see these beauties. Or head west to see them at Redwood National and State Parks, in California.
Wild poppies blanket sandy grasslands and slopes in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Their deep root systems help these flowers to thrive during the dry season. When they’re happy, they can grow up to 3 feet tall. Gila Lower Box Canyon Wilderness Study Area in New Mexico is one glorious wild poppy mecca.
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a state-protected reserve in California, where this poppy is the state flower. The reserve is at an elevation ranging from 2,600 to 3,000 feet (790 to 910 m) above sea level, in the Mojave Desert climate zone. The reserve is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Other wildflowers within the reserve include the lupine, goldfields, cream cups and coreopsis.
See more wildflower glory here. Create your own wildflower patch here. Find out more about the butterflies here.
Read more about Blossoming Beauty all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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