Mountain holly, Grape holly (or hollygrape), Barberry, Creeping Mahonia, Mahonia repens

flowering season: April to June

photo: Matthews Winters Park, CO

A beauty for all seasons, she is an evergreen shrub with spiny leaves, growing 1-3 feet tall. New leaves emerge in spring with a bronze color before turning bright green, topped with dense clusters of tiny bright yellow flowers, followed by dusty blue-black berries later in summer, and burgundy red leaves in the fall. Her fruit is edible, but sour, after the season’s first frosts, and they were included in the diets of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, and make good jelly. Her roots and stalk contain Berberine, with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, and were used to treat stomach and digestive disorders and mild wounds. The inner bark of her larger stems and roots make a yellow dye. Her berries contain a dye that can be purple, blue, pink or green, depending on the pH of the water used to make the dye, as the berries contain a naturally occurring pH indicator. So many colors from one plant!

Yellow Pea, Thermopsis montana

flowering season: April through August

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Potentilla

flowering season: June through August

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park and South Mesa Trail, CO

Golden Smoke, Golden Corydalis, Corydalis aurea

flowering season: May - July

Yellow Prairie Violet, Viola nuttallii

flowering season: April - June

photos: Matthews Winters Park, CO

The genus name Viola means violet in Latin, but her only purple coloring is the nectar guides on her sunshine yellow petals. She is also one of the few violet species with long lanceolate leaves, instead of the distinctive heart-shaped leaves of other violets. She grows in small clumps, about 4 inches tall, found from the prairie to the montane. Like other violets, her leaves and flowers are edible (but not the rhizomes, fruit or seeds). She serves as a host for caterpillars of the Coronis Fritillary butterfly. As milkweed is to monarchs, fritillaries will lay eggs near patches of violets and the caterpillars feed exclusively on the plant.

Dalmatian Toadflax, Linaria dalmatica

flowering season: April to September

photos: South Table Mountain Park and White Ranch Park, CO

Draba aurea

flowering season: June - August

Buffalo Currant, Clove Currant, Missouri Currant, Ribes aureum

flowering season: April - June

Many Flowered Puccoon, Fringed Gromwell, Lithospermum multiflorum

flowering season: April - July

Sulphur Flower, Eriogonum umbellatum

flowering season: May though September

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park and Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO

Copper Globemallow, Cowboy’s Delight, Sphaeralcea coccinea

flowering season: June to August

photos: South Table Mountain Park, CO

Balsamorhiza sagittata

flowering season: May - July

photos: Golden and Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Plains Prickly Pear, Opuntia polyacantha

flowering season: June through August

photos: Clear Creek Trail, Wheat Ridge, CO

Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja

flowering season: May to September

photos: South Table Mountain Park and Golden Gate Canyon Sate Park, CO

Wyoming Paintbrush, Narrow-leaved Paintbrush, Castilleja linariifolia

flowering season: June to September

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Spearleaf Stonecrop, Sedum lanceolatum

flowering season: June through August

photos: Welch Ditch Trail, Golden, and Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Common Mullein, Woolly Mullein, Figwort, Verbascum thapsus

flowering season: June through October

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Erysimum capitatum

flowering season: April through August

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Thimbleflower, Mexican Hat, Long-headed coneflower, Ratibida columnifera

flowering season: June through October

photos: South Mesa Trail, CO

Coneflower, Brown Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta

flowering season: June through September

photos: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Gaillardia aristata

flowering season: June through August

photos: Golden and Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Common Sunflower, Prairie Sunflower, Helianthus annuus

flowering season: June through October

photos: South Table Mountain Park and Green Mountain Trail, CO

Curly-cup Gumweed, Grindelia squarrosa

flowering season: June to October

photos: Green Mountain Park, CO

Rubber Rabbitbrush, Ericameria nauseosa

flowering season: July through October

photos: South Table Mountain Park and Matthews Winters Park, CO