Colorado’s state flower is the Rocky Mountain Columbine. It evidently became the state flower after winning the vote of Colorado’s schoolchildren in 1899.

We have a state gemstone: Aquamarine, a state fossil: Stegosaurus, a state animal: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, and even a state fish: Greenback Cutthroat Trout.

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We have the state flag, and we even have a state amphibian. I find it odd, however, that we don’t have an official state fruit.

My girls love fruit and eat some variety at least once a day. We often have tried and true fruits as part of our daily meals. I typically eat apples or grapes and lunch. My girls have fruit every morning for breakfast, and usually have apples, grapes, or bananas with their lunch.

Lots of apples are grown in this area of Colorado. Our neighbors have apple trees. They gave us a box full a couple of years ago. Though the apples were small, they were great in fresh apple pie. You can also find cherries, peaches, and plums. Our old neighbor had a plum tree in her yard many years ago. The plums used to fall on our side of the fence. After we got a dog, we had to make sure she wouldn’t eat those plums.

We’ve hiked around Western Colorado and picked wild raspberries. I remember they were good but rather small. It would be difficult to make a pie from them as it would take hours to pick enough to fill a measuring cup or a pint-sized container. My husband’s parents have a white raspberry bush that does really well. I’d never seen or tasted, white raspberries before, but they are really good.

According to CSU Extension, you can grow other types of fruits in Colorado. Tree fruits like plums and apples can do well in our climate, but you can also plant berry bushes like strawberries.

We’ve tried, and successfully grown, strawberries at our house for the past several years. We only wish we had more of them.

We’ve also been very successful with tomatoes too. We grow them in containers, so we stick to the cherry tomato size. One of our daughters eats them like candy. Technically, or scientifically, cucumbers are also fruit, and we’ve managed to grow a few. We just have to remember to pick them up before the dog gets to them. He loves cucumbers.

My girls would be happy if we could grow blackberries, though they are not my favorite.

I’d like to grow blueberries too, but I've heard they are difficult, and nearly impossible, to grow here. Although if I can talk my husband into it, maybe we could build a greenhouse. Then maybe we could grow blueberries and have homegrown fruit year-round.

Does Colorado Have an Official State Fruit?

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