Awaiting desert wildflowers

One of many reasons I look forward to being on hiking trails in spring and summer is seeing and photographing wildflowers. Among many places in the U.S. that we visited, I remember the vibrant bluebonnets and desert flowers in Big Bend National Park, the beautiful lupines and Indian paintbrush of Mount Hood Meadows, the alpine flowers of Rocky Mountain National Park. A few places are well known for their summer wildflowers. Mount Rainier National Park comes to mind. However, there is one place I’d like to visit in the spring when wildflowers are in bloom. It’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California. It is located in Southern California, about a two-hour drive from San Diego and Palm Springs. The Smithsonian Magazine named it in 2015 as one of the seven best places in the U.S. to see wildflowers. Since we’re waiting the winter out in the Palm Springs area, it’s a good opportunity to visit the park during a peak bloom. The park’s website has updates for the peak bloom. The latest update on February 11 indicates the end of February to be a prime time for wildflowers viewing. If the desert receives more rain and the weather stays cool longer, the blooming period may extend well into March.

In a week or two we’ll make a trip to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I’ll write a follow-up post after our visit. In the meantime, enjoy pictures of desert wildflowers from our past years.

How about you? Where are your memorable places for wildflowers?

Big Bend National Park, Texas

Big Bend Bluebonnet (Lupinus havardii)

Twist-spine prickly pear (Opuntia macrorhiza) … I think

Strawberry pitaya cactus

Woolly paperflower

Desert marigold

Blackfoot daisy

Scarlet hedgehog cactus

Big Bend bluebonnets in April

Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lupines with Mt Hood around the corner

More Indian paintbrush than I’ve seen

More lupines on Mt Hood Meadows Loop

Cow parsnip mixing in with lupine and Indian paintbrush

I don’t have a close-up of the yellow flowers in this picture. They contrast the purple color of lupine quite well.

More cow parsnip

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Alpine sunflowers. Their 3-toothed rays can be clearly seen in this picture.

A typical scene of alpine tundra

Alpine phlox

This might be Golden Draba (Draba aurea).

King’s crown (Tolmachevia integrifolia) on Mt Ida Trail

Moss campion

Moss campion

Alpine sunflowers