Kwaay Paay

Viola pedunculata










Yucca









butter cup
ranunculus?




















Above, monkey flowers.
right, a daisy.









Owl's clover
Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta








California Bee-Plant
Scrophularia californicassp.
floribunda








Manzanita









Mallow or Hollyhock
Sidalcea malviflorassp.
sparsiflora










IndianPaintBrush









Spider on deadly nightshade









Chamise or Greasewood
Adenostoma fasciculatum









blue eyed grass











artemnesia, our new pet









white fiddle necks









radio antenna plant

Kate Sessions Open Space

We often walk in Kate Sessions open space. We've seen it in all seasons. But still I don't know the names of most of these familiar flowers!

I'm covetous of a Jepson's guide.















Above and right, a Splendid Mariposa Lily.
I'm giddy about these, but the yellow desert ones are the best.
This guy is Calochortus splendens, its a tulip.








Mallow or Hollyhock
Sidalcea malviflorassp.
sparsiflora













Chalk Dudleyas,
Dudleya pulverulentas, above,
and one Lady's Fingers Dudleya edulis, right.

















barrel cacti,
gotta love em.
(but not tooo much).






purple sage,
Salvia leucophylla








Nutall's Snapdragon
Antirrhinum nuttallianum






I've heard this is a ranunculus. but it looks like a daisy to me... Its not in any of my books, and its all over the county. I asked about it at the CNPS, and this is what I learned. They are
Garland Chrysanthemums, tasty and invasive.
Leucanthemum coronarium, Chrysanthemum coronarium

God's Canyon

On April 4th we did a hike through Del Dios Canyon, outside Rancho Santa Fe. I made sure to reverently prostrate myself before a softly swaying sea of Blue Dicks.








blue dicks
Dichelostemma capitatum







Cucamonga Manroot.
What a great name!
Marah macrocarpus








Coastal Deer Weed
Lotus scoparius var.
scoparius





Early Onion
This smells awful
Allium praecox








San Diego Sweet Pea
Lathyrus vestitus var.
alefeldii






dodder!!
It's a parasitic plant in the morning glory family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuscuta







lemonade berry,
Rhus integrifolia
berries on 2nd year growth





I'm not so sure about this one.
I think its Lemonade Berry again,
first year growth.


A few other things we saw were lupin, monkey flower, blue-eyed grass, and a lot of invasive mustard.

Valentines bouquet, only mostly dead.

Its been 6 weeks now since valentines day. Two or three of the ten stems I put outside look green and leafless, and the rest shriveled. Of the indoor ten, most are still half-heartedly sprouting. Oddly, nothing has any discernible roots. So I don't know how they are managing to stay alive. I keep peering at their jars, but I just don't get it. No roots.

Return of the native

Late March, and its time for the annual pilgrimage to visit the desert wildflower blooms. Photos from Anza Borrego's Coyote Canyon, March 20th 2010.






the meadow floor:
lupins, dandelions, chicory.








desert lily, Hesperocallis undulata.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperocallis
but it looks so much like a desert-adapted version of
common Bay Area "Soap Plants" , with such similar ruffled leaves,
I expected it to be a Chlorogalum.
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?where-taxon=Chlorogalum+pomeridianum
I'd put money on this eventually classified as a Soap Plant, whatever family that ends up being.









California poppies on the canyon walls








Mimulus bigelovii, a small pink monkey flower