Montana Roots

I didn't fully appreciate how incredible our balsamroot bloom was until we took my mother to the Bison Range. Mom was a flower gardener and had lived back East her whole life so we weren't sure how she'd respond to the drier habitat balsamroot prefers.

The flowers were at their peak, as they are right now in the Seeley Swan. From the Bison Range vista point Mom looked out at the endless, overlapping hillsides cloaked in yellow blooms, interlaced with the purples, whites and pinks from other wildflowers.

That night she thanked me, telling me the balsamroot were far more beautiful and moving tha...