Heading to the mountains is a surefire way to take a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Whether you head to the moist and shaded mountains of Appalachia or the sunny and exposed cliffs of the Rockies, you’ll find flowers wherever you go. Some of these flowers take advantage of the rich soil created by centuries of decomposing leaves and others have adapted to survive the sunny and windy conditions present on bare summits. In this article, we’ll introduce you to 20 beautiful flowers that grow on mountains.
Rocky Mountain Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea)
This columbine species can be found throughout the Rocky Mountains as well as in high elevation areas of the Southwest. It’s the Colorado state flower and features upright facing blooms.
Plant size: 1-3 feet
Color: Blue and white
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum)
Each summer, the flowers of the flame azalea sets Appalachian mountain balds aflame. This plant is primarily found on naturally cleared balds, but you can also find patches on open slopes.
Plant size: 4-10 feet
Color: Orange, gold, pink, or red
Hardiness zone: 5-7
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
The mountain laurel is one of the most iconic mountain flowers in the Appalachian Mountains. As spring turns to summer, the evergreen shrubs send out clusters of white and pink flowers that look like origami bells.
Plant size: 6-15 feet
Color: White and pink
Hardiness zone: 4-9
Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva)
Well-suited to the harsh conditions found on rocky mountainsides, bitterroot can regrow even after its roots appear dry and shriveled. When you see its flowers on mountains, you wonder how such a beautiful flower can survive in this environment!
Plant size: 3-6 inches
Color: Pink
Hardiness zone: 5-8
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)
After wildfires sweep through mountainous forests and meadows, fireweed is one of the first species to colonize the newly bare ground. You can sometimes find acres of land covered in the plant’s bright pink flowers.
Plant size: 4-7 feet
Color: Pink
Hardiness zone: 2-7
Piper’s Bellflower (Campanula piperi)
Credit Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Campanula_piperi.jpg
Only found in the Olympic Mountains and parts of Vancouver Island, this star-shaped flower pops up in rocky areas at high elevations. The leaves and flowers remain low to the ground, but the beautiful periwinkle blooms brighten up gray and brown mountainsides.
Plant size: 2-5 inches
Color: Purple
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Found in rich, moist woods in the Appalachian Mountains, bloodroot is a stunning spring ephemeral. These plants produce a simple white flower on an upright stalk, with a curled leaf wrapping around the flower stalk. The plants have bright red-orange roots, leading to their common name.
Plant size: 6-12 inches
Color: White and yellow
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Shasta Lily (Lilium washingtonianum)
Credit Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lilium_washingtonianum_ssp._purpurascens.jpg
Also known as the Washington lily or Mount Hood lily, this mountain flower calls the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges home. It’s often found in recently cleared areas or open mountain clearings.
Plant size: 4-6 feet
Color: White or pink
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Giant Red Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)
These mountain flowers thrive in moist meadows and streambanks in mountainous areas in the western United States. Like most types of Indian paintbrush, this species parasitizes other plant roots and sucks nutrients from its host plant.
Plant size: 1-3 feet
Color: Red
Hardiness zone: 4-9
Yellow Avalanche Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)
Credit Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erythronium_grandiflorum_ssp._grandiflorum_11.jpg
One of the first mountain flowers to appear in western mountains after the snow melts, the nodding yellow blooms brighten up previous white hillsides. Bears love feeding on the carbohydrate rich bulbs when other food is scarce.
Plant size: 5-10 inches
Color: Yellow
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Moss Campion (Silene acaulis)
A true alpine plant, these low-growing, bushy plants blanket exposed rocky outcroppings with moss-like leaves. During the summer, the plants send out hoards of small pink flowers, leading to the name cushion pink.
Plant size: 1-2 feet
Color: Pink
Hardiness zone: 3-7
Pink Mountain Heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis)
A small and low-growing shrubby plant native to the Rocky and Cascade Mountains, pink mountain heather has evergreen leaves that often form thick mats. The plants produce clusters of tiny, bell-shaped flowers during the summer.
Plant size: 1-2 feet
Color: Pink
Hardiness zone: 3-7
Chuquiragua (Chuquiraga jussieui)
Known as the flowers of the Andes, this plant thrives in high-elevations in Peru and Ecuador. It grows as a small shrub and produces bright flowers that resemble burning flames.
Plant size: 2-3 feet
Color: Yellow or orange
Hardiness zone: 6-8
Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis)
Credit Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bluebead_Lily_(Clintonia_borealis)_-_Flickr_-_wackybadger_(4).jpg
Found in evergreen mountains, the bluebead lily carpets parts of New England and the Midwest. The plants often grow in large colonies where they produce small, yellow flowers followed by their namesake blue, round fruits.
Plant size: 1-2 feet
Color: Yellow
Hardiness zone: 2-8
Pincushion Plant (Diapensia lapponica)
This low-growing, evergreen shrub is found on alpine summits in New England and parts of Europe. During the summer, it produces small white flowers.
Plant size: 4-6 inches
Color: White and yellow
Hardiness zone: 3-7
Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)
Credit Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cypripedium_acaule_plant.jpg
A type of orchid native to rich woods in mountainous areas of the eastern United States, this flower is a sight to behold. Each plant produces a single flower stalk topped with a large pink flower.
Plant size: 6-18 inches
Color: Pink
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Yellow Gentian (Gentiana lutea)
During the summer, the blooms of the yellow gentian brighten up mountainous areas throughout Europe. The yellow star-shaped flowers appear on stalks that grow straight up.
Plant size: 2-3 feet
Color: Yellow
Hardiness zone: 4-8
Edelweiss (Leontopodium nivale)
One of the most popular flowers in the Alps, edelweiss grows on rocky slopes between 6,000 and 12,000 feet above sea level. The white, star-shaped flowers have long been used as a symbol of the rugged beauty present in the Alps.
Plant size: 6-18 inches
Color: White
Hardiness zone: 3-7
Alpine Snowbell (Soldanella alpina)
Credit Wikimedia Commmons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alpine_Snowbell_-_Soldanella_alpina_-_panoramio.jpg
Once the snow melts in the European mountains, the alpine snowbell is one of the first flowers to bloom in the Alps and the Pyrenees. The flowers have a bell-shape with petals that appear windswept.
Plant size: 3-6 inches
Color: Purple
Hardiness zone: 4-7
Pyrenean Trumpet Gentian (Gentiana occidentalis)
Found in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain, this low-growing plant sends up large, trumpet-shaped flowers in the summer. The scraggly vegetation is well-suited to survive the harsh conditions found on rocky outcroppings.
Plant size: 3-6 inches
Color: Blue
Hardiness zone: 3-7
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If the mountains aren’t your thing, don’t worry! Our new Destinations Collection of flowers contains blooms from various habitats and landscapes. So the next time you’re looking for flower delivery, check out this fresh collection!
If you want to know what flowers you can find in other landscapes, we’ve got you covered. You can check out which coastal flowers brighten up beaches and baysides, cottage flowers that are at home in serene gardens, and some of the best tropical flowers found in lush jungles and fields.
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