Marsha A. Goetting, Ph.D., CFP, CFCS

Extension Family Economics Specialist

P.O. Box 172800

Bozeman, MT 59717-2800

phone: (406) 994-5695 fax: (406) 994-4838

E-mail: goetting@montana.eduLocation: 208C Linfield Hall

Web site

Summer 4-H season for me (Jane Wolery) and therefore I was a little delayed bringing you this article from Marsha Goetting that she sent to me in June!

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June equates to wildflower season in Montana.  That means it’s time for me to grab my camera, tripod, and backpack and head for the mountains.  I spent the first Saturday in early June hiking around state lands in the mountains near Bozeman.  A variety of wildflower were blooming….prairie smokes, larkspurs, shooting stars, ball head waterleafs and many, many more.  I really didn’t care that it rained most of the time and that it was too windy to take photographs…. I was just happy to be among the millions of blooming flowers.

Albino Fairy Slipper

My husband (Gary) and I spent the next two weekends in June in the northern section of Yellowstone National Park.  I was ecstatic to find an Albino Fairy slipper.  Contrast the Albino with the normal purple-ish one below.  Aren’t they both beautiful?  A fairy slipper is sometimes called a Calypso orchid.  This flower has a very specialized reproduction system, requiring exacting habitat conditions so finding one calls for a celebration.

When you visit Yellowstone this time of year you experience what we locals call “Bear Jams.”  You can almost tell when a person sees a bear for the first time.  The driver stops the car, four doors blast open and people run out with their cameras in hand to take a photo of the bear.  Never mind that the bear will only appear as a black dot on the final picture.

Fairy Slipper

 I can’t blame them for their excitement in one way, but when you are stuck on the road for a half hour because the person in front of you and the driver in the opposite lane have abandoned their cars, we locals tend to get a bit testy.  However I must confess that because of a “Bear Jam” we were fortunate to see a mother black bear and her two cubs churning up grass and eating grubs.  We also saw grizzly bear grazing in a picnic area.  Luckily no one was picnicking at the time!

Chocolate Lily

Gary’s find of the day the second weekend in June was the tallest Chocolate Lily we had ever seen.  Chocolate lilies are a challenge to photograph because the flowers hang downward like a bell.  The tallness of this one allowed Gary to get “up close and personal” with one of the flowers on the stalk as you can tell from the photo below.

You won’t find any fairy slippers or chocolate lilies at Big Sky in September during the NEAFCS 2016 Conference because our blooming season is usually mid-May to late June. But if you attend my preconference on September 12 entitled….Wildflower Reflections:  Families, Legacies, and Estate Planning you will meet the Fairy Slipper Family and learn how one father accidently disinherited his children by having the property in joint tenancy with his new wife.

Speaking of flowers ... if you are looking for a way to send a lasting bouquet to friends on their birthdays, consider purchasing Montana wildflower note cards as a gift.  Plus, you'll also be providing support for the NEAFCS 2016 conference. 

More information here.

Have You Met the Bitter Family?

Marsha A. Goetting, Ph.D., CFP, CFCS
Extension Family Economics Specialist
P.O. Box 172800
Bozeman, MT 59717-2800
phone: (406) 994-5695 fax: (406) 994-4838
E-mail: goetting@montana.eduLocation: 208C Linfield Hall
Web site

In the summer of 2009 when my husband and I were driving to a friend’s cabin for a weekend adventure in the Deerlodge National Forest we kept seeing "pink" in the pasture fields.  We were really mystified as we had made that trip many times during past years (always in June) and never saw pink flowers.  What could they be?  Once we reached public lands we stopped to take a closer look so we could discover what type of wildflowers were making a striking appearance all over the fields and growing very close to the ground.  We were ecstatic to find they were bitterroots.  Prior to this time we had only seen bitterroots in Yellowstone National Park.  This area of Southwest Montana had more than normal amounts of rainfall in the spring and early summer of that year.  That extra moisture allowed the bitterroots to make a majestic appearance  in their full bloom. 

The bitterroot is the Montana state flower. Each large flower has 12 to 16 rose or pink pointed petals.   The flowers unfold from a tubular structure held close to the ground on a short stem.  The genus name Lewisia honors Meriwether Lewis, leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who collected a specimen of bitterroot on July 1, 1806 near Lolo in Western Montana.  Native Americans harvested the roots and boiled them for food. 

You won’t find any bitterroots at Big Sky in September during the NEAFCS 2016 Conference because the short blooming season is typically from mid-May to late June. But if you attend my preconference on September 12 entitled….Wildflower Reflections:  Families, Legacies, and Estate Planning you will meet the Bitterroot family and see how grandchildren can become "bitter" and feel unloved because of the lack of planning by their grandparents. You will also learn a variety of ways you can take care of those you love by taking appropriate measures to avoid the “bitterness” that can result from poor planning. 

Speaking of love ... if you are looking for a way to send a lasting bouquet to someone you love, consider purchasing Montana wildflower note cards as a gift.  Plus, you'll also be providing support for the NEAFCS 2016 conference. More information here.