blossom from the base to the tip, laddering up the stalk over a period of weeks. It’s the slow motion countdown to the hotter days of summer ahead.
Prince’s plume (Stanleya pinnata) below Round Mountain.
Shake hands with this beautiful plant...
and feel the texture of the long leaves and you’ll never forget its name.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra) below Parriott Mesa.
An unremarkable spring bloom...
is well underway in the high desert, hindered by the exceptionally dry conditions through winter and early spring.
Narrow leaf yucca (Yucca angustissima).
Peak cliffrose pungency...
is occurring right now with pockets of the sickly sweet aroma encountered on the trail.
Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana).
Bright cactus blossoms...
are beginning to appear in the high desert.
Whipple’s fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei).
Claret cup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus).
A muted spring bloom is underway...
in the high desert, the result of a very dry winter and spring (so far).
Claret cup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus) below Adobe Mesa.
It's buttercup season...
in eastern Washington with the bright and tiny flowers pushing up through the pine duff in the ponderosa forest.
Buttercup flowers (genus Allamanda).
An erupting ponytail of green leaves...
signals the arrival of spring and the first appearance of a toxic plant in the greening landscape on the vernal equinox.
Panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum).
UPDATE 5 April: Now in full blossom.
Large and showy but short-lived...
on disturbed soils, this bright yellow giant always impresses with a spectacular blossom.
Giant blazingstar (Mentzelia laevicaulis).
Postcards from the trails...
around Castle Valley National Park with images taken on a nicely cool but blustery morning.
Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae).
A gorgeous but poisonous southwestern plant...
that expresses enormous white blossoms larger than the palm of your hands, sacred datura is sometimes used as a narcotic and hallucinogen by Native Americans.
Sacred datura (Datura wrightii) in Lions Park.
Jimson Weed, oil on linen by Georgia O’Keeffe, 1936. Image courtesy Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Monarch butterflies rely exclusively on milkweed plants...
for laying their eggs and feeding their caterpillars as it is the only food source they can consume. Here’s one in the riparian zone of Castle Creek.
Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa).
Selenium is accumulated...
by a number of plants in sufficient amounts to be toxic, and the lemon-yellow spike-shaped blossoms of this desert beauty belie the dangerous concentration that it may contain.
Prince’s plume (Stanleya pinnata).
Big and bright and beautiful bunches...
of sunflowers are spotting the landscape in Castle Valley National Park, massive natural bouquets of gorgeousness dotting the rusty terrain.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra).
A deep diving pollinator...
inside a prickly pear cactus blossom. Macro photography takes one into amazing micro worlds.
Prickly pear cactus (genus Opuntia).
Within 24 hours of pollination, the prickly pear blossom turns reddish-pink.
Busy bees harvesting pollen...
from opening globemallow blossoms. I’ll have to go prospecting for the entrances to their underground hives, given away by their tiny sedimentary turrets.
Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua). The fully open blossoms are about 15 mm wide.
Fully loaded mallow bee with a large pollen pellet on its hind legs, weighing up to 30% of the bee’s weight.
A bouquet of cactus blossoms...
for Mother’s Day.
Whipple's fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei).
This massive sunflower...
tracks the movement of the Sun across the sky throughout the day, a response that occurs in some plants known as heliotropism, and here it is at about 2:00 pm MDT.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra).
The state flower of Utah...
is blossoming right now and putting on a lovely show in the high desert.
Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii).
Full on fuchsia...
on full display in the high desert by this blooming cactus.
Whipple’s fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei).
