By John Meyer
From The Denver Post
Denver—With Colorado’s snowpack ranging from ample to exceptional this spring, hikers who adore wildflowers may already be envisioning days of strolling along lush landscapes of spectacular blooms under columbine-blue skies when all that snow melts.
It could well happen this summer. But because several factors affect the quality of wildflower seasons, and some of them have yet to play out, experts say it’s too soon to predict whether wildflower viewing will be good this year or great. It depends on what happens over the next few weeks.
“The mountains are probably going to have a pretty good year,” said Thomas Bates, a plant ecologist for the Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests, which encompass the northern Front Range high country. “The critical time is not now, because there’s still snow. It’s that three to six weeks after the snow melts. We have ample moisture, but it does depend on how that moisture comes off—in the timing, and the rate.”…