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The first wildflowers to emerge when the snows melt are spotted on south-facing open slopes at lower elevations (The Fist Wildflowers of Spring.   Sagebrush buttercups appear first followed by arabis and yellow bells.   By the first of April we can spot western spring beauties.   The corms are edible and were often harvested by First Nations people.   We can usually see them in patches in wet meadows at mid-elevations.   They bloom later at higher elevations (we have spotted them in July high on Tod Mountain).   Spring beauties are one of them most delicate and beautiful flowers of the wildflower year.

In the wetter meadows of our area, particularly east of Kamloops yellow glacier lilies.  The best place to see masses of these flowers is in Neskonlith Meadows in late April or early May.   The bulbs are edible and we have observed grizzlies digging them up in late June in alpine areas.   They can be seen in alpine meadows as soon as the snows melt.

Shooting stars can be spotted in the grasslands to mid-elevations, starting later in April.   Few-flowered shooting stars are part of the primrose family and are sometimes found in cultivated gardens.

Yellow bells emerge early in the grasslands but can also be spotted at mid-elevations later in April.

Upland larkspur can be found in drier areas in lower to mid-elevations throughout our hills, first emerging in late April.  It is a poisonous perennial, part of the delphinium family.

Shrubs start to bloom in April too.   One of the most prolific of our area is the saskatoon.

Small-flowered woodland star blooms in lower to mid-elevation dry forests and grasslands in April and May.  It is sometimes called fringe-cup.

Found in Neskonlith Meadows in April or May then on Tod Mountain in July, bluebells are found in moist areas, mostly east of Kamloops.

Lemonweed is easy to miss when it blooms because the flowers are small.  It can be seen in the grasslands north of Kamloops.Dwarf versions of fleabane and tap-rooted daisies start to appear on well-drained slopes late in April.

Two versions of desert parsley can be seen in Neskonlith Meadows but in the grasslands we mostly see mostly narrow-leaved yellow desert parsley

By the end of April or Early May, arrow-leafed balsam root, a type of perennial sunflower can be seen all over our hillsides

The flowering time for each type of wildflower depends on aspect, elevation, soil type and moisture retention, nutrients, and availability of sunlight, but we can expect to find these flowers somewhere in the hills in April.