Two For Tuesday – June 11th, 2024

Schoolchildren voted the Rocky Mountain Columbine as the state flower for Colorado in 1899. Edwin James first discovered it on Pike’s Peak, (America’s Mountain) in 1820. Columbines bloom in pastel shades of blue, violet, red, yellow, and white. There are 70 species of columbines in the Great Wide World and Colorado specifies the white and lavender Rocky Mt. Columbine as the state flower. It has blue-violet petals and spurs, a white cup, and a yellow center. Blue symbolizes the sky, white represents snow, and the yellow is for Colorado’s gold mining history.

We have a few Columbines growing around our cottage. They’ve been here since before we moved in, and show up anew every spring. They’re truly amazing flowers that look predatory with their long talon-like spurs. The Official State song also honors these amazing wildflowers: “Where The Columbines Grow,” written by A.J. Flynn in 1908.


Colorado also adopted John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” as State song #2 in 2007.

State Song #2 – Rocky Mountain High

Here are a few macro images of our local Columbines…




Never Stop Exploring!