Wildflower Reports - 2019

JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Please use this thread to report any wildflower sightings. I expect this thread to be active from March until August as wildflowers will start blooming early in the desert and late up in the high altitude mountains. :)

Please include the following Information in your Report.

1. Date
2. Location
3. Relative Information
4. Photos of the Wildflowers (iPhone photos are totally perfect)

Thanks so much,

Jim
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
1. Last week in February
2. Joshua Tree NP, California

The best wildflowers are in the southern end of Joshua Tree close to the entrance of the park. If taking the I-10, east of Indio turn North on CottonWood Springs Rd. (It will say Joshua Tree NP) Drive up a mile or two and you can't miss the flowers, they are on both sides of the road.

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Nilo Photography

Nilo Photography

Well-Known Member
Flowers.jpg
I was in Lake Elsinore last week Tuesday and saw these wild flower along 15 freeway. Not quite as much flowers just yet maybe in a week or so they'll be more flowers in bloom. This was an IPhone shot.
 
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AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
I have been driving down through California over the past week and can offer some observations. There are a number of places along US101 with fields showing large swaths of yellow. That starts up near Willits and was almost continuous down through Petaluma and then across to I-5. I was not able to stop for pictures of the best displays. I was able to get some shots in Wednesday along the road leading into Sequoia NP and this is one such scene:

Gateway to the Giants

Gateway to the Giants

A scene from the road into Sequoia National Park.

Not blankets of yellows like I was seeing up north of Petaluma but enough to keep me happy while shooting.

Evening news in Visalia suggested that CA58 was supposed to have some good displays but I drove that road eastbound this morning heading over to CA14 and saw only tiny patches with a few flowers. There were some clusters of flowers at Red Rock State Park and I will try to process some of those tonight to post. I did see a few Joshua Trees that were putting out blooms but those were scattered specimens lacking an interesting context to shoot.
 
AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Windshield report: I drove from the Alabama Hills to Las Vegas today via Death Valley and Pahrump. There isn't a lot going on along CA190 right now but there is a very notable amount of green scattered across the desert floor. From what I saw in the Alabama Hills yesterday and this morning there are patches of blooms but a lot of the plants I examined were still developing bud for a flower show yet to come. That remained true for most of the drive.

As I approached Las Vegas I noted a lot of the Joshua Trees are getting ready for a bloom but are still just short of the event.

I noted one single creosote bush in bloom in the valley just to the west of the Panamints. Creosote isn't exactly the most beautiful plant in the desert but it can look nice in full bloom.

Sorry but I don't have images of what flew by at 60+ mph.
 
lightsgood

lightsgood

Well-Known Member
3/16/2019. Picacho Peak State Park, AZ. Hello All. My first time here. It was like a jewel in the desert. The Ranger said that it has not looked like this for 10 years. Definitely worth a visit.

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AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
lightsgood said:
3/16/2019. Picacho Peak State Park, AZ. Hello All. My first time here. It was like a jewel in the desert. The Ranger said that it has not looked like this for 10 years. Definitely worth a visit.
Click to expand...

Neat sunset with the wildflowers. I have seen that place light up like that once back in the mid 60's when I lived down there but it's very rare.
 
Douglas Sherman

Douglas Sherman

Staff
Bartlett Lake Regional Park is spectacular right now. We have had so much rain that it will probably be good for at least another week or so. The plants are big, healthy, and still have lots of buds. These images were taken near rattlesnake Cove and along the road to the dam.

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Rattlesnake Cove.jpg
 
AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Douglas Sherman said:
Bartlett Lake Regional Park is spectacular right now. We have had so much rain that it will probably be good for at least another week or so. The plants are big, healthy, and still have lots of buds. These images were taken near rattlesnake Cove and along the road to the dam.
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That saguaro is so fattened up with water it looks like it's going to burst :D
 
AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Things are starting to come out north of the SF Bay area right now. I saw quite a few fields with lots of yellows and oranges driving from Petaluma over to the coast and more yet driving north along CA1. I did get some images yesterday which is good since it is raining quite hard since around midnight. This was taken towards the north end of the Bodega Bay area.

Bodega Bay Blooms

Bodega Bay Blooms

Ice plant and other assorted blooms in Bodega Bay, CA.
 
Nilo Photography

Nilo Photography

Well-Known Member
Diamond Valley Lake Marina
March 27, 2019
This place is open from Wednesday - Sunday
From 8 am - 6 pm but check their website for hours update.
These are taken using IPhone
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AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Wow - endless desert flowers - time for some forest floor love. There are a lot of plants sprouting now that will likely show flowers over the next few weeks including false hosta and several types of ground cover plants. Salmonberries are just getting started as well.

These images were taken this morning in the Siuslaw NF along the Sweet Creek trail:

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JohnC

JohnC

Well-Known Member
This first photo was from Diamond Valley Lake last Friday. Although it was a spectacular day the clouds in the sky caused the poppies to sleep in most of the day while I was there.




Second photo here is from a trip to Joshua Tree this past Wednesday.


 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
JohnC said:
This first photo was from Diamond Valley Lake last Friday. Although it was a spectacular day the clouds in the sky caused the poppies to sleep in most of the day while I was there.




Second photo here is from a trip to Joshua Tree this past Wednesday.


Click to expand...
Thanks for this Report John!
 
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