It's wildflower season

Now's the perfect time to take a break from the heat, pulling weeds and fighting other pests and enjoy some of nature's most fabulous gardens.

Wildflowers in nearby mountains are blooming profusely. Early and lasting snowfall, cooler temperatures and summer rains have combined to let these blossoms burst forth in a brilliant show of color and form. A hike into selected areas will leave you oohing and aahing. (One side benefit of such a trek is discovering plants with the potential to thrive in your own garden.)

While extolling the landscape value of these plants, it is critical visitors practice good wildflower etiquette.

Take only photographs and memories when you leave. Wildflowers wilt quickly after picking and never transplant well. In addition, collecting plants on public lands is illegal without proper permits. Instead, check your local nurseries, many of which carry both wildflower starts and seeds.

The following are some of the more common flowers that are now blooming in the mountains and thrive in local landscapes. Keep in mind that in some of these mountain areas spring comes very late and the snow has just melted, so the plants that are blooming now would bloom much earlier in your garden.

Columbines "Aquilegia" are common in many mountain areas. The spurs are likened to doves crowding around a small dish, giving the plant its common name — columbine, a dove. Columbine grows on cool, moist hillsides at high altitudes. Flowers get up to 4 inches across, with spurs 1 to 2 inches long. The petals vary in color from cream to white, and the petal-like sepals from white to deep blue.

Common alumroot or littleleaf coralbell "Heuchera" is an herbaceous perennial that grows in rock crevices or on cliff faces. The leaves form thick basal rosettes, and the flowers bloom on long wiry stems that protrude some 12 to 15 inches above the leaves. It thrives in high pH soils, and the flowers are red or white.

Jacob's ladder "Polemonium" grows in rich soil with moisture. The plant forms a dense clump of leafy stems about 2 feet high. The blossoms are each about 1 inch in diameter and grow in clusters. They are white to blue and have a slight skunky odor.

Bluebells "Mertensia" are available in several species. Mountain bluebells get 1 to 3 feet tall and grow at an altitude of 5,000 to 12,000 feet. The bell-like blossoms are blue with tinges of pink and are 1/2-inch long or longer. They grow on stream banks and at the edge of meadows where they form thick stands.