Ok, I think I might have just had the best flower day EVER. I can't believe I had never been to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve before!!! Its amazing, a truly beautiful place. The poppies were probably at their peak a week ago, but there were still so many hyper-saturated orange petals fluttering in the wind, it was dazzling. So much orange! Its like a burst of beta carotene burning straight through your retinas into your brain. But in a wonderful way :) The Reserve was pretty packed, which is kind of great-- I love when people are interested in nature, and engaging in funny things like flower tourism. To be clear, I am not just a poppy fanatic, I am a general wildflower fanatic. So we took a meandering path to get to the Reserve, winding along San Francisquito Canyon, to see a variety of blooms. This area is apparently infamous for the St. Francis dam disaster, which killed 600 people in 1928. But it also has some great blankets of purple lupines right now, and pretty but painful poodle-dog bush (immediate contact dermatitis if you touch the leaves). And blooming yuccas! Also around the Reserve, there were lots of other awesome species blooming: Goldfields, Lacy Phacelia, Tidy Tips, Fiddlenecks, and Douglas Locoweed. Check out the pics below for scientific names. We drove home a different way, on Highway 14, and stopped at Placerita Canyon Nature Center, which is another hidden gem in the area. I was tired and lazy, so asked the woman at the gift store where to find wildflowers. She didn't think there were too many, but suggested the "Ecology" trail… and it was packed with lovely flower surprises. I found an elegant Clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata, to the left), a flower I have never seen before, and one that has always intrigued me with its super-extended anthers. It looks like a work of art! Also blooming (and pictured below): black sage, woolly blue curls, scarlet bugler, wishbone bush, holly-leaved cherry, monkey flower, and another Phacelia species.
1 Comment
Paul Gunby
4/2/2017 01:52:57 pm
Great shots, thanks for sharing... My wife & I are going this week!
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AuthorI like nature! And hiking, and taking pictures, especially of nature. Archives
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