Ask SAM: Native Plant Masters have blooming fun!

This column is provided by Larimer County Extension's Small Acreage Management (SAM) Program to assist rural residents.

Dear SAM,

I can't wait for spring! I especially enjoy watching the wildflowers bloom. Are there any classes that can help me to learn their names?

Sally

Dear Sally,

Colorado has a rich diversity of wildflowers. With habitats ranging from prairie grasslands to alpine meadows, a wildflower enthusiast has endless places to explore.

CSU Extension offers a Native Plant Master program to help you learn our local flora. Courses focus on identification, ecology and human uses of Colorado plants. Students learn to identify plant families and the scientific names of common species while using a botanical key.

Though the program is titled Native Plant Master, plants don't come with "Colorado Native" bumper stickers. Nonnative species often grow amongst those that "belong here." The Native Plant Master program teaches both native and nonnative species, with an emphasis on how introduced species impact the native flora.

Native Plant Master students also learn which species can be useful for landscaping and gardening. Planting natives in your garden reduces the risk of introducing potentially invasive species. Dalmatian Toadflax and Myrtle Spurge are examples of ornamental plants that escaped the garden and invaded our wildlands. If you stick with natives in your garden, you can rest assured you won't be introducing the next potentially destructive noxious weed.

Native Plant Master instructors present stories to accompany the plants. Native Americans used some species to fashion arrows or for medicinal purposes. Other species have clever mechanisms for pollination. The Cutleaf Evening Primrose, for example, opens at dusk and is pollinated by a long-tongued moth. Violets produce a second set of flowers that never open and self-pollinate as a backup in case the showy blossoms fail to produce seeds.

The 2009 Native Plant Master courses will be offered in May and June at Lory State Park, and in August in the Poudre Canyon. Each course includes three classes held on consecutive Fridays or Saturdays. Classes involve moderate hiking (and occasional snakes), so get in shape before the flowers bloom. The course fee is $90. Application deadline is March 15.

For Native Plant Master application materials or more information, send an e-mail request to emarx@larimer.org or call the Larimer County Extension Office at 498-6000.

SAM

Have a question about rural living? Write to Ask SAM, Larimer County Cooperative Extension, 1525 Blue Spruce Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80524 or e-mail emarx@larimer.org.