Indian Paint Brush of the Rocky Mountains

by Ed Powers    As many of our readers know I travel areas of the Rocky Mountains annually and enjoy the abundant flora at all elevations.  I have really fallen love with the Indian Paint Brush flowers.  The plants are simple but the flowers are amazing and they come in several colors. Originally, I thought the different colors were a result of the altitude and soil condition, but I have come to learn each color is a different species.    Indian paintbrush flowers are named for the clusters of spiky blooms that resemble paintbrushes dipped in bright red or orange-yellow paint. Growing this wildflower can add interest to the native garden. About the Indian paintbrush, also known as Castilleja , Indian paintbrush wildflowers grow in forest clearings and grasslands across the Western and Southwestern United States. Indian paintbrush is a biennial plant that usually develops rosettes the first year and stalks of blooms in spring or early summer of the second year. The plant is short-lived