As a Stokes Nature Center camp leader one summer, my focus for the day was on alpine forest plants as we set out on a northern Utah trail. I carried plant presses and field guides, ready to teach how to identify a Douglas fir from a Lodgepole pine and to have them hug quaking aspens blindfolded to discover distinguishing characteristics of each trunk. These youngsters were going to learn every forest fact I could share, I thought, but they quickly taught me the meaning of naturalist John Muir’s quote: “I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
Glacier Lilies, Courtesy Andrea Liberatore, PhotographerI find it difficult to leave my canyon home in N. Utah especially during April and May. Every day brings new bloom and bird song. On April 12th I returned from 9 days in Georgia for a family event. I quickly retreated to the canyon where I found spring in full bloom- spring beauty, balsamroot, Indian potato, locoweed, violet and perhaps my favorite, the glacier lily. It often appears at the edge of receding snow banks.
Mother Grizzly Bear and Cubs in Yellowstone National Park Courtesy USGS Frank T. van Manen, PhotographerIts delicate beauty is a favorite early season food of the grizzly bear. Bears “till” up the land, turning over chunks of soil to access their tasty bulb. Glacier National Park scientists have learned that this “tilling” has some important side effects. Areas with recent bear diggings have less plant diversity and higher nitrogen levels than undisturbed parts of the landscape. Without much competition from other plants, glacier lily bulbs can quickly regenerate, and these new lilies produce twice the usual number of seeds, thanks to the nitrogen rich soil!
After digging up glacier lilies, bears often leave the bulbs for a few days to wilt in the sun. This “cooks” them a bit making them sweeter and easier to digest. First Nations lore shows that early peoples learned to dry and cook glacier lily bulbs by copying the grizzly. Black bears relish the bulbs as well while Elk and deer munch the foliage.
The Shoshone ate the corms fresh or with soup, and the dried bulbs were a popular trade item between tribes. The leaves are edible as well and the green seedpods taste like green beans when cooked. Medical applications include reducing fever, swelling, infection, and they were used as a contraceptive. The glacier lily was collected during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Meriwether Lewis mentioned this species numerous times in his journal. This may be because he thought it could be used as a “botanical calendar” to help track the onset of spring.
Glacier lilies are very sensitive to disturbance and harvesting the corm will effectively kill the plant. Though native tribes practiced active management of them, their populations have been greatly reduced. It is better to leave collection to wildlife.
“The snow is melting. The grizzly bears that have been sleeping beneath the snow, suspended like seeds, will prowl the warm fields just beneath the snow, grazing on the delicious emerging lilies. Sometimes the yellow pollen gets caught on the fur and snouts of the great golden bears as they grub and push through the lily fields, pollinating other lilies in this manner. In this crude fashion, they are famers of a kind, nurturing and expanding one of the crops that first meets them each year. The lilies follow the snow, and the snow pulls back to reveal the bears, and the bears follow the Lilies. The script of life begins moving with enthusiasm once again.” Rick Bass, author, naturalist, activist.
Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society and you guessed it- I’m wild about Utah, and its long lost grizzlies
Hummingbirds Eat Insects and Drink Nectar From Flowers Black-chinned Hummingbird Archilochus alexandri Courtesy US FWS, Alan Schmierer, PhotographerDid you know that hummingbirds eat aphids and mosquitoes?Native Plants Are Key
When we think about landscaping for the birds we might think of the National Wildlife Federation guidelines to include food, water, shelter and places to raise young, but chances are the foods we think of first are berries, nuts, and seeds, when in fact the single most important food to ensure the survival of songbirds are the insects hosted by native plants. The Bridgerland Audubon Society website includes a wealth of resources on many aspects of Bird_Friendly Living, not least of which native plants for Utah gardens.
Douglas Tallamy’s website “Bringing Nature Home” states that most songbirds need insect protein for their young, and the top plant species that host the caterpillars birds need are oak, cherry and willow. Just one of many plants to share with birds is the Chokecherry, preferably with green leaves, as the red-leafed cultivars are not attractive to insects. Chokecherry fruits are great for people and birds, and the leaves will host insects for baby birds. Remember, those little hummingbirds aren’t just sipping nectar and pollinating flowers, they’re eating aphids and mosquitoes, serving an important pest management role in your garden!
I will now read the Mayor’s Proclamation to Grow Native for Birds, a timeless summary of the reasons to err toward native plants:
Proclamation To Grow Native For Birds:
Whereas, growing native plant communities in our residential, municipal and commercial landscapes promotes and enhances our sense of place; and Whereas, increased awareness and use of native plants is fundamental to water conservation, water quality, habitat preservation and successful gardening; and
Whereas, gardens and landscapes composed of Utah’s native plants require little or no fertilizers, soil amendments, or pesticides; and
Whereas, using firewise plants native in our landscape is often the safest option; and
Whereas, landscaping choices have meaningful effects on the native insects that bird populations need to survive; and
Whereas, a diversity of birds is indicative of a healthy ecosystem, including biological control of pests, carrion regulation, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling; and Whereas, birdwatching can be a fun, relaxing, multigenerational, educational family wellness activity;
Now, Therefore, we do hereby declare this Proclamation to Grow Native for Birds and encourage everyone to actively foster and support the use of Utah native plants in their gardens and landscapes.
I’m Hilary Shughart with the Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I’m Wild About Utah
Creating Landscapes for Wildlife… A Guide for Backyards in Utah, Written by Sue Nordstrom and Illustrated by Kathlyn Collins Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Utah State University with Margy Halpin, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; Second Printing 2001,
Updated for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, by Frank Howe, DWR Avian coordinator; Ben Franklin, DWR–Utah Natural Heritage Program botanist; Randy Brudnicki, DWR publications editor; and landscape planning illustrations by Stephanie Duer.,
Published by:
State of Utah Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources,
Utah State University Cooperative Extension Service and
Utah State University Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning;
1991 updated 8/2025 https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/landscapingforwildlife.pdf
American Robin Turdis migratorius Finding a high point to sing and be seen Courtesy US FWS Peter Pearsall, PhotographerIn the time of year which straddles Winter’s Ligeti and Summer’s Scheherezade lies Spring’s perpetual Peer Gynt Morning Mood. Spring is a unique juxtaposition of an ubiquitous ice patch in the sun, a gentle awakening from a static annual ablution. And the birds are back, too.Songs of Spring
For me, my first indicator of spring is the call of the male American Robin who warbles from the top of the nearest thing with a top to warble from, melting away the dark with his song. He will announce himself as Spring incarnate, and honest be told I think he really is. He is staking his territory, newly thawed, full of history and habitat and hope. Warble on, dude.
The air brings music too, our next sign of the season. It is always in harmony with the budding willow velvet, emerging daffodil spears, and wild bedheaded leaves which survived winter under the weight of its blanket. It’s the kind of music that sends shivers up your spine and reminds you that the sun is here, yes, but don’t have your sweater too far away. You’ll need it.
The last in the choir of Spring is the low basso profundo of good mud; that sound you can smell. It’s not the mud caused by summer rainfall which is dainty underfoot and easily run off, but the mud which strives to be that of the marshlands. It is not privy to splishes nor splashes, but instead grips you by the ankle like a playful toddler upon their parent, and when pulled up, if you’re lucky enough to still have your boot, releases everyone’s favorite sound to make in a packed van. It echos with each step. The juvenile earth cannot be quelled.
So this spring, keep your ear to the ground, upon the wind, and towards the trees for the music of the free world. It is the wellspring source of all our own imitated humanly scores, and so will always be true. Happy Spring everyone. Get outside and lose a boot. You’ll be glad you did.
