Easter Daisies bloom among the 60 million-year-old shale rock formations of Boulder County’s Six Mile Fold.
Boulder naturalists Stephen Jones and Ruth Carol Cushman ventured out in search of the flowers.
Early Easter daisies (Townsendia exscapa and T. hookeri) are built to survive in dry, rocky environments and are found from the Plains to the Foothills in Colorado.
The flowers have long taproots probing down into cracks in calcium-rich limestones, they're able to extract water and nutrients that are inaccessible to most other plants.
Early blooming helps them avoid competition for sunlight and pollinators.
This story from KGNU was shared with Aspen Public Radio via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico including Aspen Public Radio.