Hike through a forest scorched by fire. Blackened trunks give way to a wash of brilliant pink and magenta blooms sweeping the ground before you. Fireweed is Colorado’s comeback artist. It loves disturbed soil and soaks up sunlight flooding in after wildfire clears the forest canopy. It’s the land’s way of bouncing back, carpeting scarred ground with color and life.
In August and early September, fireweed leaves turn bright scarlet and signal a coming change in season. As an old saying goes, “when fireweed turns to cotton, summer will soon be forgotten.” That “cotton” is a cloud of downy white threads attached to seeds, tiny and light as dust. They float for hundreds of miles to start fresh in another burn scar. Fireweed does more than brighten the landscape. It heals, restores and invites pollinators. Nature’s vivid way of saying: life returns.
About Colorado Postcards
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado.
