The wildflower season in the Crown of the Continent is off to a fantastic start. Here's a sampler of what to look for and where:

BEARGRASS
The lithe and sensuous beargrass flower rarely blooms in full grandeur on consecutive years. But blessed has been our recent weather and moisture conditions: This year’s mass beargrass bloom looks to be as spectacular as 2008. In the Crown of the Continent region, we’re in the heart of the best beargrass habitat in North America. Exceptional places to view swarms of waving beargrass in meadow and forest include the Canadian Flathead Valley (north of Polebridge), the McDonald Valley in Glacier National Park, the Swan Valley, Waterton Lakes National Park, and the Whitefish Range.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cot1664C630E3D368806

WATERTON WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL
Western North America’s major climatic zones converge and plants merge in the Crown of the Continent from the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, and boreal forests. Waterton Lakes National Park, for example, is home to more than 50 of Canada’s rare flowers, 30 of which are found only in this park. The Waterton Wildflower Festival, mid-June annually, disperses flower sniffers across 70 separate workshops and field studies led by about 150 guides.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cotC3D32A1D56635783A

ORCHIDS
Naturalist Steve Wirt calls Montana’s wild orchids “belly flowers,” because you have to get down low to appreciate them. Roughly 40 native species of orchidaceae – the Earth’s largest family of flowering plants – may be found in the Crown of the Continent. Cate Turner-Jamison writes about exploring for orchids in the Crown region since she was a youngster. More than 40 years later, she's still addicted.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cot7D6FAE4891E55D0DB

KIMBERLEY NATURE PARK
Three square miles in size, this is one of Canada’s largest municipal parks. Perched in the foothills of the Purcell Mountains, the view across the Rocky Mountain Trench toward the Rockies is spectacular. So are the park’s wildflowers. Join guided hikes led by local volunteers.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cotFCD0551BB5D335602

DAMES ON THE RANGE
Sweet and nutritious, the bulbs of the blue camas provided a summertime treat for native peoples throughout the Rocky Mountains. Awareness of that and other delicacies is being revived by Dames on the Range. The Dames’ expertly guided field workshops along Alberta’s prairie foothills show you how to make food, teas, and ornamental gardens with native plants.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cot90E721AFDE04C05D5

ARROWLEAF BALSAMROOT
Look for yellow waves of arrowleaf balsamroot on the Rocky Mountain Front in June. Swaying in the westerly breeze against the backdrop of green prairie, these big, showy flowers signal summer is just around the corner. From Highway 89 in Montana or Highway 22 in Alberta, check their preferred habitat on south-facing slopes and coolies.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cotDCF0B080EAD03B669

WHITEFISH WILDFLOWER HERBARIUM
Don’t know wildflower names as well as you’d like? Self-tutorials are available at the Whitefish Library where local volunteers Mary and Gary Sloan have pressed more than 100 native flowers in a handsome, homemade herbarium. Join the Sloans and other amateur botanists at the annual meeting of the Montana Native Plant Society July 17-19 in Hungry Horse.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/crown_continent_detail.php?cuid=cot848CA70B2B92475EE

The dramatic variety of landscapes in the Crown of the Continent is demonstrated by the diversity of wildflowers. View or download our recent Wildflowers feature in the Flathead Beacon, June 8, 2009 (left), to view the geographic range of wildflowers in the region.