Wildflower Reports?

[Mark Sedenquist]

In past years, we were more on the ball with getting this organized

But if you are anywhere near Carrizo Plains National Monument right now... You gotta go and check it out.

A field report has just been received... The Best viewing areas are here:
1) Intersection of Hwy 58 @ Shell Creek Rd.
2) Valley floor along Soda Lake Rd into the monument.
3) Taking the Panorama Rd east from Soda Lake Rd to Elkhorn Rd.
4) Traveling north on Elkhorn Rd towards Hwy 58.

Here is a photo gallery shot in the last few days
-- some of the best color I've seen in years!

(Photo by Chris Hartzell)

and... of course, Carol's site is still the breaking news site for wildflower sightings in California... (Weirdly, she has removed all of this year's reports -- and left a cryptic note on the home page... you might find it interesting to read what she wrote... but mostly it's just peculiar)

Desert USA's wildflower field reports are coming in too!

And I am "officially" playing hooky tomorrow and heading for Ashford Mills to see the wildflowers in Death Valley -- photos will be on the way!

Mark

[AZBuck]

My wife and I took a short RoadTrip this past Saturday up the road a couple of hours to Boyce Thompson Arboretum. The beauty of the place, besides the obvious beauty of the plants and setting,



is that something is guaranteed to be in bloom. Note that there are guided tours on several topics included in the admission price. We took the nearly 2 hour Wildflowers of the Sonora Desert tour and what was remarkable was that many of the plants growing in the arboretum were cultivated from seeds and other samples gathered from the wild in the surrounding area. The arboretum is a 2 hour drive from Tucson, and probably an hour or so from Phoenix. If you have the time and interest while you are in central to southeastern Arizona, by all means - drop in.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm just back from a 300 mile cruise to Death Valley National Park. Wind from a low pressure front made for some challenging photo taking conditions.. But here are a couple views I snapped from the Ashford Mill site area (near the southeastern section of Death Valley):


This is Notched-leaf Phacelia and it's going to be a great year.

Desert Gold is coming on strong -- it's not as amazing as the bloom of 2005, but certainly better than anything we've seen in recent years....

Looking south.... (Sarah Burgess, capturing and slowing the wind...)


Photo by Michael Dickman -- Looking north from the mill site


Photo by Michael Dickman -- close-up of Desert Gold

Perfection in a desert wildflower -- A Desert Five Spot

Photo by Michael Dickman

Mark

[Peter Thody]

Stunning flora (and yes, fauna too) - and a real eye-opener for those of us who only ever get to see these places as bleached, arid desert.

Thanks Mark, thanks Buck and thanks for the link to Chris Hartzell's series; those flowers on Carrizo Plains look almost unreal (which is kinda why I wish he hadn't included the funny retouch in the same series!).

I'm going up the English Lake District tomorrow. Forecast? Heavy snow followed by heavy rain. With any luck we may see a daffodil or two.

Peter

[Mark Sedenquist]

Megan's posted a new article about the incredible wildflower bloom at Death Valley this year. Great, great photos here.

Mark

[shirohniichan]

Great shots! We went through Death Valley last weekend and were impressed with the number and variety of flowers still in bloom. The slide show taught me the names of the flowers I saw. Thanks!

[Mark Sedenquist]

I've made three trips to the Death Valley eastern area to look at wildflowers this year. Ashford Mills is nearly finished for the big Desert Gold displays, but lots of micro displays linger. Here's a quick visual report:

A couple close-ups of Mariposa Lillys take along CA-178 just south of Pahrump, Nevada in the Chicago Valley area:


and for scale...



Dodder is considered an "evil" plant, but it can be beautiful as well -- Shot near Shoshone, California

This was taken just about 3 miles north of Badwater -- nice bed of Desert Gold hitting it's peak:


And one more from there:


Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

This is a quick view taken from the Artists Drive on April 19th -- That's Lake Manly in the distance. I can see six varieties of wildflowers here... How many can you see? Do you know the names?


Happy Hunting!

Mark

[shirohniichan]

Anyone who will be a little north of Los Angeles this week may want to head out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve (set your navigation system for 15101 Lancaster Road, Lancaster, CA). California poppies are abloom over a broad area.

[Mark Sedenquist]

It's time to wake-up this sleepy thread.

This is not going to be a banner year for wildflowers in the Mojave Desert and southern California -- Much of the normal rainy season was bone dry and although there have been some very wet storms in the last 30 days, most have come to late to generate much flowering this year.

That being said, there are some new wildflower sites that I really like....

Latest field reports from the California Poppy Reserve

The 2012 bluebonnet season in Texas

Texas WILDFLOWER VIEWING SITES

And we've not converted this route to the RTA Custom Maps yet (shhhhh) but it's always been a good one for us when looking for wildflowers...

So.... What are you seeing in your neighborhood?

Mark