Estes Park photographer Erik Stensland shot these alpine forget-me-nots, above, in June 2015. But they can be found every summer in Colorado’s high country.
Forget-me-nots are my favorite alpine wildflower (tied with columbine), and their intense blue is only part of the reason. I’ve a great fondness for tiny things and due to the harsh weather at high altitudes, tundra plants like these forget-me-nots are quite small. How small? Here they are next to a dime:
How could anyone not love these exquisite miniature flowers?
I first became aware of them years ago when my brother sent me a paperweight with a mix of tiny Colorado wildflowers embedded in it. The forget-me-not was the star of the show, and though they grow in many states, they seem to me like Colorado’s reminder to “forget me not.”
Those flowers are just splendid, and so tiny; the marvels of Mother Nature, only wish I knew the diameter of a dime to truly understand how small these really are; perhaps a rule/ruler would help we aliens 😀
The US Mint says the diameter of a dime is 17.91mm. Pretty darn small– pretty delicate looking, but how hardy they must be to survive in the alpine tundra world!
Silly me. I thought briefly of pulling out a dime and a tape measure! (Senior moment!) For us non-metric-speaking Muricans, 17.91 mm is .705″.
So tiny, but not to be overlooked with that intense color
Gotta love ’em.