Album Wildflowers

We had an explosion of Prairie Crocus over a month ago:
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Now long gone to seed:
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Other than that, it's been a bit of a disappointing season for wildflowers around here thus far, with sustained hot and dry weather bringing on early and less profuse blooming, with some flowers- notably shooting stars and western wood lilies- barely even making an appearance in the usual hotspots.
A few photos from the last week or so.
Buffalo Bean already fading:
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Violets in a damp glade:
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Several weeks earlier than usual for these lupine on Nose Hill in Calgary:
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Mountain Avens already a bit past prime:
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Peak wild rose a few days ago:
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Some much needed rain here this morning should hopefully freshen things up for the late bloomers.
 
Not a real good pic. Never noticed it on my property before, about 9 in high .... ANyone know what it is?

a flower.jpg
 
Not a real good pic. Never noticed it on my property before, about 9 in high .... ANyone know what it is?

View attachment 122064
Coincidentally- I noticed some of these on my mtb ride in the Alberta foothills yesterday, but didn't stop to take a picture. Your post reminded me to look it up in the Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, and to my untrained eye it appears closest to the spotted coral root (although I don't see any spots in your photo), a saprophyte (parasitic with no chlorophyll) that is a member of the orchid family.
 
Some images from an alpine meadow wander on Saturday afternoon:
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Ridgetop, with some small patches of snow lingering from a cold mid-week storm:
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Moss Campion:
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Up until last week it had been a hot and dry spring after a quick snowmelt, with the flowers appearing several weeks earlier than usual. These buttercups are doing fine, but the meadows here usually also feature an equal mix of forget-me-nots around late June-early July. Not this year, though:
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Although, there were a few nice ones:
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Larkspur doing ok too, and the paintbrush are already appearing which is ahead of schedule for this elevation.
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The first series are from a 4 day camping and hiking trip in the third week of June, to Castle Wildland Park in SW Alberta.
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A great mix on the grassy ridges above Beauvais Lake.
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Western wood lily, unfortunately in a bit of a decline closer to home in city natural parks due to picking, which kills the plant.
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Salmonberry
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Confirmed by Bill the botanist as spotted coral root, @Bob.
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One of the many species of Arnica.
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Beargrass thrives in the area, which abuts onto Waterton/Glacier.
Next up- a day hike to a favourite area that we hadn't been to for several years- Sparrowhawk Tarns.
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Crested Beardtoungue in the jumbled rockslide that has to be negotiated.
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Columbine.
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Moss Campion.
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Rock Jasmine.
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Paintbrush and heather, earlier than usual here in the alpine as has been the theme this summer.
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Buttercup in soggy streamside meadows.
More pictures from both trips, here:
Castle Wildland Park
Sparrowhawk Tarns
 
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At Sleeping Bear Dunes high above beautiful Lake Michigan

lots of white thistle
IMG_5386.jpg

peas & pods
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3 different types of milkweed - common, green comet (had to look that one up), butterfly weed
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We loved this one! I looked it up but forget its name.
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A bunch more
IMG_5479.jpg. IMG_5341.jpg

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This was all over the place - from a distance it looked like silvery sage

IMG_5191.jpg

Bladder campion (I think)
IMG_5236.jpg. IMG_5271.jpg

At first glance, we thought this was a flower. Instead, there are tiny pink galls all over the leaves.
IMG_5322.jpg
 

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Great to see those beautiful CO scenes. We're heading to Crested Butte in a few days to see our sons, and I'm really excited!
 
Great to see those beautiful CO scenes. We're heading to Crested Butte in a few days to see our sons, and I'm really excited!
We loved Crested Butte! I'm jealous of your sons if they live there. I felt obligated as a mountain biker to make a pilgrimage to CB at some point (it's one of the mountain biking meccas), and it didn't disappoint
 
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