{"id":2089,"date":"2026-06-27T23:33:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T23:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2089"},"modified":"2026-06-27T23:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T23:33:44","slug":"this-unusual-plant-is-superblooming-right-now-in-colorado-with-flowers-5-feet-tall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2089","title":{"rendered":"This unusual plant is superblooming right now in Colorado with flowers 5 feet tall"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Coloradans heading to the mountains in the next couple weeks will be treated to a superbloom of plants that grow flower-covered stalks reaching 5 feet high or more.<\/p>

Read more Colorado weather: Tornado spotted in southeast plains amid severe storms<\/a><\/p>\n

The frasera speciosa<\/em> plant, also known as green gentian or monument plant, is experiencing what scientists call a masting event, when many of them decide to bloom at the same time. Since they typically grow in alpine meadows, that\u2019s a great place to see hundreds or even thousands of green gentians popping off all at once, said Marija Helt, a Durango-based biologist and herbalist.<\/p>\n

Right now, superblooms are taking place across the state from Summit County to the San Juan Mountains. There have been reported sightings in Crested Butte, Gothic, and Gunnison, as far as Telluride, Silverton and Durango. Helt recently went to Engineer Mountain in the San Juans, where she said the meadows are lush.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was out this year, I saw some that were just a few feet tall, there were some 5 feet tall. It\u2019s kind of neat \u2014 I\u2019m 5\u20194\u201d and shrinking \u2014 to walk up a trail and have them be as tall as me. They can be even taller,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the stunning visual effects, green gentians are unique because they grow for decades \u2014 most plants live between 20 and 80 years, Helt said \u2014 and each plant only blooms once before it dies. David Inouye, principal investigator at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, told The Denver Post he expects the blooms to last about two weeks.<\/p>\n

Inouye began studying green gentians in 1973 after becoming intrigued by the plant\u2019s irregular flowering patterns. In the decades before they bloom, the plants boast a rosette of leaves and remain close to the ground. Each one can grow anywhere between two and 90 leaves. (That number is not correlated with how old each plant is, Inouye said.)<\/p>\n