For June, 1920 



211 



Foothill Flowers in the Rockies 



S. R. De BOER 



THE foothill slope of the Rockies, the mesa meadow 

 where colors run riot, is it too gross an injustice 

 ro her to select a half dozen of her children and 

 not mention the dozens, nay hundreds of the others? 

 W here the rattler hisses, where Peter Rabbit houses 

 under a rock instead of under a time honored liriar bush. 



there is the gay colored 

 piirtal to the white and lofty 

 |)eak>. 



The Ijright biu'ning scarlet 

 of the Gilia. Mas it any other 

 name but GHia cv^nii^ataf A 

 long tubed corolla, sometimes 

 the purest white, or the most 

 delicate pink, the brightest 

 scarlet. Biennial is the root 

 of this plant, which is easily 

 grown, multiplies itself by 

 seed into patches of gorgeous 

 colors. The tops grow as 

 high as three feet under culti- 

 vation, but the dry locations 

 where growth is less luxuri- 

 ant and colors more intense 

 are preferred by it. 



• V statel}" little queen in 

 the grasses of the July 

 meadow, a cjueen among the 

 thousands of other little 

 beauties, is the Mariposa 

 Lily. With its three petals 

 of white, shaded into a 

 Nclliiw green at their base, it 

 barely looks uut over the 

 heads of the other meadow 

 plants. But not a wet ajid 

 liiw 'ground meadow this; 

 can we call it a mesa 

 meadnw ? 



Cilia (C:tiii iii;ra;^atn ) 



Mariposa Lily 

 {Calochortus Xutlallii) 



But it is not for the de- 

 fense of the bright yellow, 

 crimson eyed, blanket tlower, Gaillardia, that the hill 

 is armed. Everybody for himself, God for all of us, 

 is the slogan in the flower world. How bright she is, 



with smiling 

 m o o n face, 

 this Blanket 

 tlfiwer. Why 

 lilanket ? Ves. 

 g r o w e r of 

 things, lover 

 1 if the tamed 

 1) e a u t y , it 

 will groAV in 

 your garden. 

 It will <m\\v 

 at you. thn' 

 its Color mav 

 ncii be bright, 

 its smile not 

 as broad as 

 out there on 

 the dry hill 

 slope. 



I'aSiinctluiK'rr {I'lilsatiUa hirsulissi>na) 



tower 



The mountain side is still snow patched as the 

 I'asqueflower pushes its hairy bud through the bed of 

 pine needles. 

 The Pasque- 

 flower used 

 to be an Ane- 

 mone but of 

 late has 

 take n o u t 

 citizen 

 ]) a p e r s as 

 Pulsatil- 

 la. Planted 

 in the garden 

 on rather dry 

 locations in 

 well drained 

 soil it is a 

 grateful, 

 smiling little 

 flower. 



As the l)ell 

 on a fortified castle, 

 stands the flower 

 spike of the Yucca. 

 Shall we call it soap- 

 weed ? Good, soap- 

 weed then. Did you 

 ever see the root of 

 this bayonet-like 



plant ? That is right, 

 we can call it Spanish 

 l)ayonet, but soap- 

 weed is our home 

 name, whv not? Btit 

 the root ; a great big 

 tuber, in which mois- 

 ture and plant food 

 is stored for severe 

 times. .V Yucca 

 covered hill w i t h 

 their green colored 

 leaves in Winter, 

 looks like a well de- 

 fended c a ni \) i n g 

 ground, w i t h the 

 rifles stacked, but 



loaded, the bayonets .v/,,,,,,;,/, Bavowt or Soaftcccd 



ready for action. {Yucca) 



Blanket Flower (Gaillardia) 



Do not look on your work as a dull duly. If you 

 choose you can make it interesting. Throw vour heart 

 into it. master its meaning, trace nut the causes and 

 ])revioiis history, consider it in all its bearings, tliink 

 how many even the humblest labor may benefit, and 

 there is scarcely one of our diUies which we m.'iy not 

 look to with enthusiasm. \'ou will get to love your 

 work, and if you do it with delight you will do it with 

 ease. Even if at fir>t yon find this imjiossible. if for a 

 time it seems mere drudgery, tliis may be just what you 

 re(|uire: it may be good like moiuitain air to brace up 

 \-onr character. — Lard Aichurx. 



