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Arrowhead Balsamroot, Larkspur, and Indian Paintbrush colour this natural rock garden alongside Sartoris Road, south of Crowsnest Pass.

The Great Rock Garden The compressed transition from prairie to mountain ecosystems makes the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains a wild botanical garden where species mingle along the boundaries of their natural ranges. Here, the flatland-loving Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) shares open slopes with the montane Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata). White Bog Orchids (Platanthera dilatata) cohabit high-elevation wetlands with Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon) more common to drier meadows. White Bog Orchids and Shooting Stars share alpine wetland at headwaters of Lynx Creek south of Crowsnest Pass. The native ranges of Prairie Smoke and Indian Paintbrush overlap in Waterton Lakes National Park. Splendor in the Beargrass Our rarest native species is Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), a metre-tall lily that bursts into extravagant bloom only once every three-to-four years. In the Crown of the Continent region Beargrass is found only inside Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Parks. Beargrass blooms but thrice per decade and in Alberta SouthWest, and only in Waterton Lakes National Park. So elusive is Beagrass that we had to seek these specimens in neighboring Glacier National Park. Waterton Wildflower Festival Each June, amateur botanists and wildflower photgraphers converge in Waterton Lakes National Park to learn from the professionals. Qualified guides lead visitors by foot, vehicle, boat, and horseback to the most satisfying meadows and woodlands for practical workshops in the field. The festival is timed for peak blooming season, the third week of June. Photography instructor Steve Harrington explains depth-of-field during one of several workshops offered by the Waterton Wildflower Festival. Web links Waterton Wildflower Festival Program of wildflower appreciation and photography is offered the third week of June in and around Waterton Lakes National Park.

 

Alberta SouthWest
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