Posted by Pam Colander on July 17, 2012 at 2:54 PM
I have a couple of wildflowers blooming in the yard I would like ID help with I've looked in my guide books and can't find either one. This yellow one is about 24 inches high.
Posted by Pam Colander on July 17, 2012 at 2:55 PM
Another showing more of the plant and flower bracts.
Posted by Pam Colander on July 17, 2012 at 2:56 PM
This blue one is sort of similar to an aster as far as the blossoms go. But they are about 36 inches tall and kind of weedy looking. The flower clusters are concentrated at the top of the plant rather than evenly distributed like a wild aster.
Posted by Pam Colander on July 17, 2012 at 2:57 PM
Flower close up
Posted by Pam Colander on July 17, 2012 at 2:57 PM
Foliage of blue one. Thanks very much for any help you can provide!
Pam, I agree with Morris that the blue one is chicory. I'm not 100% convinced the yellow one is a primrose, although there are many different ones. To me the stamen/pistil structure in the center doesn't look like other primroses.
Here are my favorite on-line wildflower ID resources: http://wildflowersofcolorado.com/html/pg__9_yellow.html I don't really like how she organizes the flowers within the colors. They don't seem to be grouped by family, leaf shape, bloom structure, etc. It just seems like a random listing. But what she lacks in organization is made up for in volume-she has lots of wildflowers, many including the leaves so you can get an overall view of the plant which is key sometimes. I think she also runs this FB page https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wildflowers-of-Colorado/256740889870 I think people can e-mail her photos and ask for ID's if they really can't figure it out. It would be worth a try anyway.
BTW, your photo is much nicer than many, many shots I see on these sites
Posted by Pam Colander on July 18, 2012 at 12:38 AM
Thanks Angela for your thoughtful and very thorough post! I always appreciate good reference sites and I'm sure the ones you gave me will come in handy. I received a private e-mail with another link to a website for SE Colorado wildflowers. The yellow one is definitely an evening primrose variety, Oenothera villosa. The blue flower belongs to Lactuca tatarica (Blue Lettuce) which is a type of chickory.
Discussion
8 repliesHere are my favorite on-line wildflower ID resources: http://wildflowersofcolorado.com/html/pg__9_yellow.html I don't really like how she organizes the flowers within the colors. They don't seem to be grouped by family, leaf shape, bloom structure, etc. It just seems like a random listing. But what she lacks in organization is made up for in volume-she has lots of wildflowers, many including the leaves so you can get an overall view of the plant which is key sometimes. I think she also runs this FB page https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wildflowers-of-Colorado/256740889870 I think people can e-mail her photos and ask for ID's if they really can't figure it out. It would be worth a try anyway.
Another one I use is http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com which may or may not be useful to you in your area of the state.
Last, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is also a good resource http://www.wildflower.org/plants/
BTW, your photo is much nicer than many, many shots I see on these sites