Desert Wildflowers

These first were taken on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.
First is lupine and brittlebush. whole banksfull of them

Then is the sand verbena

This is yellow cups [Camissonia brevipes],
Lacy phacelia Phacelia tanacerifolia],
and Desert star [Monoptilon bellioides]

The desert star is a tiny little plant. We call them belly flowers, cause you have to get down on your belly to take their pictures.

Sometimes there are quite a lot of these little flowers all over the desert floor.

This is a Tack-stem - Calycoseris wrightii

I only found one white Phacelia in with all those purple ones

And we found just one of these Desert Lilys - But one of these makes your day.

This was on the California side of the Colorado River
Its a Desert Evening Primrose.

This is called Spanish Needle

It was difficult to make any mileage when the roadsides look like this:

Desert Chicory

Cryptantha utahensis - another belly flower

See how tiny

Brittlebush and saguaro [for locations sake]

Huge display of purple phacelia, yellow cups, and white is either desert nettle or mentzelia

This message was edited Feb 10, 2005 10:50 PM

Better look at the Mentzelia [Blazing Star]

This message was edited Feb 10, 2005 10:51 PM

*sighing and smiling*

Ahhh, how beautiful the desert is! If only there were some ocotillo (one of my personal favs), this photo journey would be perfect. ;)

Donna, who lived in Phoenix for almost 10 years and loved it

Donna, well this may help your Tutti Fruiti I only got shots of one ocotillo in bloom. Here tis

Well I did get a little closer

Oh yes!!! It always amazes me how those spiney 'sticks' can still flower when the rest of the plant isn't even greened up... and they're rather luscious looking when water *IS* plentiful. :)

I remember the desert turning into vivid color more in the March-April timeframe, but then, I also lived a bit further south. Thank you SO MUCH for these lovely pics and the fond memories they provoke!

Blooms that was a fabulous photo essay! Mother Nature and I are very in tune as far as what color combos we like. Purple, yellow and white together is my absolute favorite...and you've got a few different shots of that mix :-). Lovely lovely lovely! :-) I started out writing down my favorites as I browsed down the list of photos. But by 1/4 through I realized I was writing down almost every photo as a favorite! LOL Their all just so wonderful...and I can definitely imagine how difficult it was to actually get anywhere when there were so many flowers calling out to be photographed :-) I'd have been in heaven and giddy with excitement if I'd been their with you :-)

-Julie

Yeah, Blooms! Mucho gracious.

;-) I took a bunch of pictures. Don't remember seeing so many Blazing Stars before and the flowering was only taking place in the low desert area. As I climbed up toward 29Palms it was a road to a whole nother country.

Will you be going again this spring for the show in the high desert? I am told that if the timing of a spring rain is just right there is nothing quite like it anywhere.

Well, at the least i'll have the high desert flowers that surround my home town. We're planning on the flowers of the Anza Borrego State Park one day next week if the rain stops. They say they are already having marvelous showing of blooms.

Don't see how i can work in Death Valley this year, can't seem to be in more than one place at a time. But they too are having a wet year and the blooms of a lifetime. They had a really bad floods there last fall [?] washed out roads, drowned some people.

Hadn't heard about the floods in DV. You worked there? Sounds interesting!

No, I meant work it into my spring schedule, silly goose.

Some years I go home to Utah thru Death Valley, not exactly on the way, but a wonderful detour. Caught it at its ten year best a coupla years back and they expect the best in 50 years this year. /;-)~Blooms

Silly goose, silly goose? I ain't no stinkin' silly goose!

I was in Death Valley once many years ago but, the timing was bad for wildflowers. Really terrific and outrages landscapes there. I'd like to go back some day,

Oh, tell me when and I'll meet you there. We could go right after the wildflower hike with Julie - heehee

It's one of my favorite places - even on a 'poor' year there are many of the belly flowers and the scenery alone is enough to make one go "Aaaah".

I will do that! There is a lot of stuff there to see. Had an encounter with a rabid coyote the last I was there.

I love the "belly-flower" concept! My belly-flowers are hepaticas and geum!~ April

Blooms, that was just wonderful. Beautiful flowers. I sure wish I could get there at the right time. i did take quite a lot of pictures near Wickenburg, AZ many years ago when I was going to Quartzite to see my parents, but that was long before digital cameras became popular. Your photos are amazing and beautiful. Donna

Blooms and John, perhaps Death Valley is a better bet for all of us to get to. One day I WILL be in the States again....don't care what it takes! And Death Valley is somewhere I've always wanted to see. :-)

-Julie

I am told there is a spectacular bloom happening in DV right now. The best in many years! Has to do with being an El Nino year.
John

Blooms,
Can you show or tell on a map exactly where the wildflowers were blooming? I lived in Tucson for 2 years and I was very lucky to see the wildflowers in full bloom the second spring. It might have been El Nino or La Nina year (1998). The white poppies, datura, those mallows in pale orange, hedgehog cacti, and ocotillos are my favs! Miss it all sometimes. Thanks for the memories and more!!

I am looking forward to your return, Julie!!

Boojum the wildflowers shown here were taken just about 15 miles east of Parker Az in an area just south of the Bill Williams wildlife preserve.

John they say DV is best in 50yrs.

Thank you John :-) :-) :-)

Julie, pity it can't be this year, major major flowering. And to see the damage the floods did also. Tho it means my usual route out is closed... can't get to DVJunction till they fix that road. LOL