If your summer plans include a backpacking trip into Glacier National Park‘s wildflower-filled backcountry, you might want to pay attention to the calendar: The deadline to enter the park’s advanced reservation request lottery for backcountry campsites is Sunday, April 15.

Advanced reservation requests received by April 15 will be assigned a random number then processed in order starting on Monday, April 16. Details, the park’s backcountry camping guide and backcountry applications are available here.

After April 15, advanced reservation requests are processed in the order they are received. Backcountry permits can also be obtained in person at issuing stations in the park.

If you’ve never pitched a tent in Glacier’s backcountry, it’s well worth the purchase of a permit.

Last year, my wife Jen and I hiked over Triple Divide Pass from Cut Bank to St. Mary in three days and two nights, camping at Atlantic Creek and Red Eagle Lake. Along the way, we saw wildflowers, wildlife, creek bottoms and alpine terrain. Find out more about our adventure here, or just see the pictures here, here and here.

The Clark Fork Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society will be holding its annual plant sale at the Missoula Farmers Market on Saturday. Check it out from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the north end of Higgins Avenue.

Justin Grigg

What wildflowers are you seeing on your adventures in western Montana? Drop me an e-mail at jgrigg@missoulian.com and I’ll share it on Wildflower Walks.

Justin Grigg

Monday morning’s rain kept me indoors instead of out – a good time to think about wildflower resources available in print and online.

First, field guides. I have several wildflower guides on my bookshelves – here are the three that get the most use:

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers – Western Region (2001), by Richard Spellenberg: This is the most comprehensive of the guides I own, with photos of 660 flowers and descriptions for 654 major species that range west from the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains south to the Big Bend area of Texas.

Peterson Field Guides Rocky Mountain Wildflowers (1991), by John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead Jr. and Ray J. Davis: This guide includes descriptions for 590 species of flowers in eastern Washington and Oregon; Idaho; western Montana, Wyoming and Colorado; eastern Utah; northern Arizona; and northwest New Mexico, as well as 24 “plates” of photos. While this guide is older, it includes interesting bits about nature and history not found in other guides. For instance, it has this to say about the bitterroot: “Hen pheasants and mallards are incubating eggs when buds of Bitterroot first appear; when it is in full bloom Canada geese are undergoing a postnuptial molt and are flightless.”

National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Rocky Mountain States, by Peter Alden and John Grassy (1998): The wildflower information in this guide isn’t as in-depth as in the other two, but it includes information on other flora, animals, national forests and parks, the night sky and more. It covers Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

Google “wildflower” and you’ll get millions of Web site results. Here are a few useful ones:

Montana Native Plant Society: Includes information about society membership and events, as well as articles from the society’s newsletter, Kelseya. For information on the Clark Fork Chapter and events around Missoula, click “Local Chapters & Events” in the left-hand column.

Montana Field Guide: This site is a collaboration between the Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. It includes taxonomy, photos and general descriptions, as well as information on whether a plant is an at-risk or exotic species.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: The center, based at the University of Texas at Austin, is dedicated to conservation of native wildflowers and plants. Its easy-to-use online database, found in the “Explore” tab at the top of the page, includes information on 6,849 native plants.

Celebrating Wildflowers: This U.S. Forest Service site includes native plant news and events, educational materials for children and teachers, information on rare and invasive plants, and plants of the week and pollinators of the month.

Justin Grigg

Winter’s white curtain has risen and spring has arrived on western Montana’s wildlands, bringing with it a colorful bouquet.

At Blue Mountain, bright buttercups have been blooming since early March, yellowbells and shooting stars are in full swing, and prairie smoke and pasqueflower are getting going.

On Mount Sentinel, you’ll find prairie stars and bluebells, and arrowleaf balsamroot beginning to bloom.

In the gravelly soil of Waterworks Hill, the early green tendrils of bitterroot, Montana’s state flower, have poked through.

And with this floral boom, Wildflower Walks begins anew.

Each week, follow me into the region’s valleys and forests and up its high summits in search of grand views and small sights.

We’ll range from the Bitterroot Mountains in the south to the Swan Range, Missions and Glacier National Park to the north, and from the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness to the east to, perhaps, Idaho on the west.

Also this year, Wildflower Walks is making its way online, as a blog where I’ll post additional sightings with photos and videos from the trail. You, too, will be able to share tips and pictures.

Check it out this spring and summer at WildflowerWalks.com.

Justin Grigg