As I walked the dogs this morning and took note of all the gorgeous, yet fragile summer wildflowers, it reminded me of a lady I saw the other day on the East Aspen Trail who had collected a large bunch of wildflowers to take home for herself to enjoy.

Although they were very pretty, it struck me that those flowers were removed from our natural environment and no longer available for ALL of us to enjoy. These natural beauties belong to all of us. While natural blooms are striking in nature, they do not last as cut flowers and it is detrimental to their health and to the lives of the bees and butterflies that depend on them. Leave them for the next hiker, walker, bird, or bee.

The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies offers wonderful educational walks around Aspen, some focusing on wildflowers. We encourage everybody to photograph, smell, enjoy, and educate yourself about these short-lived plants!

We have many “wild” flowers at our shop that have been cultivated for home use and that allow us to bring the wild, natural, beauty inside responsibly. Next time you find yourself about to pick and bring an early end to a wildflower, think again and let us provide you with a responsible, sustainable substitute!