The wild flowers on the farm are the first to wake up. The native grasses stay dormant longer, waiting for the soil to get warmer. Our farm is all native grasses and as I look around in the distance, I can see everyone else is green and we are still tan and brown, oh well! The flowers above are the purple Loco Plant, which also come in white. Cowboys say they make horses crazy when they eat them. I know that when the red beatles come every spring, if the Loco Plant has not bloomed they are everywhere at night, flying at you in all directions. But if the Loco Plant has bloomed in time they go to the plant and stay there. Needless to say, I like the Loco Plant!
I had thought these were a wild crocus, since they are the very first to show up, but from this wonderful site done by a professor from CSU, Dr. Mary L. Dubler, I found out they are actually a Sand Lily. That little ant was having such fun exploring!
The Three Tooth Ragwort plant is everywhere, filling the fields with bright yellow. I have tried to transplant it into our native garden several times, but it has just not held from year to year.
This wild flower is the Nuttall Primrose. It grows up to six inches in height blooming from March to May. This flower is a night owl. As I return to the house each night after the last feeding of the animals, the fields glow with patches of white flowers in the moonlight, lighting the way home.
To the first wildflowers, and thank you to professor Dr. Mary L. Dubler for walking the hills of Colorado looking for, and identifying these lovely flowers (She has also written a book about wildflowers for kids!).
~ Deb
*Last time in Barn Stories: Spring Baby Bunnies
