I just got back from a week in beautiful Colorado. It was late in the season so not a lot of blooms, but still lovely scenery. It was far more desert-like than I thought with lots of cacti and succulents. I have loads of pics but I'll have to show the best in installments. I'll start with pics from around Pueblo and Penrose, located in south-central Colorado. These first few are from a nature reserve just on the outskirts of Pueblo.
another pic from the reserve
the water supply for the city of Pueblo.
the juniper-shrub-land around Penrose.
heading into the mountains near Penrose. The rabbitbush (foreground) are in full bloom now.
as you head more into the mounatins, the junipers give way to pinyon pine.
the road was a little rough, but thankfully I had an SUV. This is one of the tunnels I had to pass through.
some of the wildflowers there include Liatris punctata
the Opuntia are in ripe fruit. I collected a few seeds.
Zinnia grandiflora
and sunflowers grow wild everywhere! The cactus is Cylindropuntia imbricata.
Great pictures, Todd! Looks like you had a wonderful vacation.
:) Donna
Todd
Super photos! Doesn't it look like the Road Runner cartoons? I found that I kept waiting for the Beep Beep to run buy.
Is that photo of a cousin of our Laitris?
That tunnel looks a bit small did your SUV fold up to get through?
It sure looks like you had a good time and the scenery looks very interesting.
Thankyou for sharing.
Ann
Todd, you sure get some off the beaten track places. Great photos. i kept expecting to see a tumbleweed rolling across the pictures.
The Liatris is indeed a close relative of our garden liatris. Actually, tumbleweeds should be native there but I didn't notice any! Had I gotten another 50 miles further south I might have indeed seen a roadrunner, as their range does just eek into the southern part of Colorado.
Boy, those pics sure brought back memories of my own trip to Colorado a few years ago. Thanks for sharing Todd. --Ginny
