The Rocky Mountains are home to more than 3,000 different kinds of wildflowers. Flowers bloom at different times throughout the year, some of which begin blooming in the early spring as the snow melts and others wait till later in the year. Why do they do that? Why don’t they all just bloom at the same time?

When looking at the natural world, most things come down to a simple quest for survival. Many of the explanations for behavior can be answered by understanding what will help give the plant or animal the best chance of surviving and reproducing. Wildflowers are an excellent example of this. Flowers bloom at different times of the year in order to give them the best chance of getting pollinated, after which they will produce a seed and a new plant.

Imagine what would happen if all the flowers in the mountains bloomed at the same time.  The mountains would probably look absolutely beautiful for that short period of time. But, the bees or other pollinators would be busier than they already are. They simply would not be able to pollinate all of the flowers, which means many flowers would not produce seeds.  If a plant does not make seeds, then it will not reproduce.  Over time, there may not be as many different kinds of flowers in the mountains since some of them would die.

Here is a super short explanation of a complicated topic – flowers bloom at different times of the year in order to give themselves the best chance at getting pollinated and reproducing.

An Arrowleaf Balsamroot is a beautiful yellow flower that is an early spring bloomer common in lower elevations.