Wildflowers & Insects

"Rocky Mountain Maple"

Rocky Mountain maple is a native shrub that colors our slopes and avalanche chutes in reds, yellows and oranges each fall. Deer, elk and moose eat the twigs in winter, and they all eat Rocky Mountain maple leaves.

"Flathead Cherry Blossoms"

Row after row of delicate, white cherry blossoms is a welcome sign of spring in the fruit orchards around Flathead Lake, in western Montana.

"Remember Me?"

Forget-me-nots bloom in pink buds and blue flowers. Eight different species of forget-me-nots live in Montana, including three natives. Behind the lens. There are legends surrounding forget-me-nots in almost every major language. My favorite is a Persian story that tells of a male angel who was cast from heaven for his love of an Earthly woman with forget-me-nots woven into her braids. He wasn't allowed to return unless his beloved planted forget-me-nots in every corner of Earth. They took to the task hand-in-hand, and upon completion the couple entered paradise together. And now you'll remember this story the next time you see these modest flowers blooming in your own corner of the Earth.

"Huckleberry Heart."

Summer in Montana means two things -- juicy-ripe huckleberries, and purple fingers. "Huckleberry Heart" note cards available here. You can also read about the history of Montana's "huckleberry culture" here at our Wild & Free Montana natural history website.

"Huckleberry Heaven."

Late-summer rains make the huckleberries swell up sweet and plump, while the cool evenings transform the whole patch from dark green to crimson red. (Note cards available here.) You can read about the history of Montana's "huckleberry culture" here at our natural history website, Wild & Free Montana. Behind the lens. Our friends Jim and Holly drove us up the mountainside to their "secret" huckleberry patch -- the real test of friendship here in Montana. They jumped out with empty buckets and started picking, and I hauled out my camera gear to work on this image that I had in my mind's eye. Even though the forecast called for sunshine, we climbed into the clouds and got soaking wet, picking fat berries with numb fingers. Some things are just worth it!

"Huckleberry Fall."

Huckleberry leaves - and one lone berry - fade into the first dusting of snow in fall. Some huckleberries make it past the hungry hikers and bears of summer, and become the seeds for another generation of huckleberry plants.

"Dream Catcher."

A spider web full of dawn dewdrops catches a multitude of visions projected by a nearby blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), a wild and native member of the sunflower family. Behind the lens. I headed out to photograph the full moon and returned home with a spider web photo instead. You can read the back story here. Note that you can print this as a rectangle or a square - cropping is available during checkout, after it's in your cart.

"Wild Horse Blanket"

Waves of yellow Arrow-leaved Balsamroot flowers blanket Wild Horse Island State Park, in Flathead Lake. Balsamroot belongs to the sunflower family and is native to Montana.

"Sunflower Sunrise."

Summer sunflowers, like this garden variety, grow side-by-side with their wild cousins in Montana. (Note cards available here.) You can read the fascinating history of sunflowers here on my natural history website, Wild & Free Montana.

"Shooting Stars"

Our little Shooting Stars are perennial, native wildflowers that don't bloom in their first year. The Latin genus name ("Dodecatheon") translates to "twelve gods," and folklore said that the flowers point westward, keeping settlers on course as they crossed the Great Plains. In the east, Native American women wore the flowers in their hair to cast a love spell on certain men during dances - I'm pretty sure that would work on me!

"Evening Aster"

There are many, many Aster species native to Montana, but they are all dark blue to lavender in color.

"Pasqueflower Quintet."

The classic prairie crocus ("Anemone patens") is a native perennial herb that sprouts multiple blossoms in early spring. Behind the lens. The pretty purple parts are sepals, not petals. Other common names for this plant include meadow anemone, wind flower and Easter flower. And though it is common in Montana's spring prairies, it is the state flower of South Dakota.

"Pink & Yellow"

Small but delightful spring wildflowers include Few-seeded Draba (a wild member of the mustard family) and pink Rocky Mountain Douglasia (right).

"Mariposa Lilies."

"Mariposa" is Spanish for butterfly, so these little natives are our "butterfly lilies." Out of 57 species in the U.S., seven have been reported in Montana. Behind the lens. I used a focus stacking technique for this photograph, using seven images focused at slightly different depths. This technique gets all of the flowers in focus while keeping the background well blurred.

"Western Trillium"

Western Trillium is one of western Montana's most elegant native wildflowers. Following close behind snow melt in shaded areas, Trillium blooms open bright white or slightly pink. They often age into a lovely lavender color by early summer. Look for them in the spring along the lower reaches of Fish Creek, in Glacier National Park.

"Triple Trillium"

Western Trillium is one of western Montana's most elegant native wildflowers. Following close behind snow melt in shaded areas, Trillium blooms open bright white or slightly pink. They often age into a lovely lavender color by early summer. Look for them in the spring along the lower reaches of Fish Creek, in Glacier National Park.

"White and Yellow Glacier Lilies"

Glacier Lilies are one of Glacier Park's "signature" wildflowers. Most of them are bright yellow, but in one small area of the North Fork Valley, white and yellow Glacier Lily varieties grow near each other, making for an elegant spring spectacle.

"Bitterroot."

The bitterroot ("Lewisia Rediviva") was declared Montana’s state flower in 1895, ninety years after Lewis and Clark "discovered" it in the Montana valley that would eventually share the flower’s name. Note cards available here.

"Bitterroot Quartet."

A cluster of four bitterroot blossoms poke their heads out of the broken rocks in early summer. The bitterroot is Montana's state flower.

"Star Flower."

Starry False Solomon's Seal is a wild member of the lily family that was used medicinally by Native American tribes. The roots, shoots, leaves and fruits are also edible -- if you know how to prepare them.

"Red Paintbrush."

The Indian Paintbrush is one of our most beautiful flowering plants. The actual flowers are the little yellow parts, while the red parts are modified leaves called "bracts." Behind the lens. This is one of my favorite flowers. They don't tend to be very showy unless they show up in large clumps. But if you get up close and personal with one flower, the symmetry and shapes are quite interesting. The color varies a lot with various paintbrush species growing in different locations and different soils.