Happy June, everyone! Life has been full and busy, which has lead me to get behind on posting. But, have no fear, I have been very busy preparing my gardens now, so I can relax and enjoy the summer time, and blog about them!

I wanted to take a minute and write about my travels this year. In April, our little family went on a spring break trip to Montana. Yes, you heard it right, Montana. We stayed in Kalispell, Montana and visited Glacier National Park where we did some exploring and wandering. We also did some hiking in Lone Pine State Park. I really recommend trying to make this a future trip for anyone. In fact, we didn’t get to see it all due to the snow, and plan on visiting again.

From the top of Kalispell, Montana and a view of the Northern Rockies.

We traveled on the famous Going to the Sun Road, but unfortunately only about 12 of over 50 miles of it were open. It takes all summer to plow out that road! 

Now, while most people went South to Florida, or the Carolinas, we decided to head out West, where in fact it was snowing while we were out there. But, it was definitely worth it!

So, I thought I would give you a little background on gardening in Montana, and what a great destination this is to travel to yourself some day!

Kalispell, Montana

• Hardiness Zone(s): Zone 5a, primary, but go to the mountains close by and it’s one 3a.
• Since it’s the Northern Rockies, you would have to wait a tad longer to start planting fruits, veggies and plants. Average time to put things in the ground is June-July.
• The flora and fauna in the alpine environment is amazing. I took a lot of pictures of stuff you just don’t find around Buffalo!

Gigantic Cedar Trees on the edge of a very foggy Lake MacDonald.

A small hair lichen, one of many different kinds that grows on trees in alpine environments. I hope I have ID’d it right!!

This, I believe is called Green Old Man’s Beard lichen, that hang from the trees in Montana!

So, I thought I would give you a glimpse of our trip and introduce you to some new-to-me botanicals that you only find in the mountains. I love going to different regions of the country and learning about not only the vegetation and wildlife, but the culture as well.