A wildflower break

On one of my grocery runs, I noticed a lot of wildflowers blooming so I took some pictures. Enjoy!

Since we moved to Centennial, I've only noticed a few patches of my second favorite wildflower each spring. This year has seen an explosion of copper mallows (aka cowboy's delight).

These are related to the more common Chinese mallows (also called "cheese weed". I guess that it reminded someone of wheels of cheese.)

A large variety of the daisy relatives are ever present and, of course, the grasses.

There's a little patch of prickly pear cactuses and yucca on the hill directly behind Walnut Hill Elementary School. Cactuses and other succulents produce extraordinarily beautiful flowers, well worth a closer look. Just watch out for the spines.

I guess the most common wildflower around here are the bindweed. Although some folks call them "morning glories" they're just relatives. 

I'm always surprised to see wild roses in Colorado and I wonder if they're actually wild. What gardeners call "primitive roses" were popular with the settlers and, often, the wild roses you see in the US are escapees from old gardens, the homes long gone. Here are a few of the roses that grow near Uinta Street.

Thistles are weeds and there's little doubt of that. Don't tangle with them or you'll regret it. But they're also jewels of Colorado wildflowers.

The Little Dry Creek Trail runs through urban Centennial in the Walnut Hill neighborhood, so these wildflowers are field flowers, but Colorado treats it's citizens to some very showy specimens every spring. For the forest flowers, we have to travel west into the mountains.

While the rains are still falling, get out and see what's in your area. Take your camera and leave the flowers for others to see.