Matilija Poppy II

To answer Out on the prairie's question about my previous post, I went back and looked at the other photos from that day. Here's one of a different bloom that includes a bit more of the foliage. I also found a good image at this link. It does not resemble thistle the way prickly poppy does. I know prickly poppies also have some pretty good stickers (they are named appropriately). You can see that this foliage is darker, and more smooth and "friendly" than that of its prickly cousin.

Matilija poppies are also quite large—they grow up to eight feet tall. The ones in my photographs were only about waist- or chest-high. Now, for those of you who are wondering what a prickly poppy looks like, CalPhotos has some good examples of a variety that's native to California.

Thanks for asking—I always like learning new things about flowers!

Matilija Poppy

This is always one of my favorites. Love how big and bold they are, and those crinkly petals. You can't help but smile when you come upon them. This one was dancing in the breeze, so I was very pleased when I got home to find it was in focus.

Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri)

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
~ William Shakespeare

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing all mothers a very special day today!

Who ran to help me when I fell,

And would some pretty story tell,

Or kiss the place to make it well?

My mother.

~ Ann Taylor

Earth laughs in flowers

desert chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)

Fremont's phacelia (Phacelia fremontii)

desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata)

Mojave aster (Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia)

Earth laughs in flowers.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Metamorphosis

One of the most beautiful flowers of the desert is dune evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides).  It's also called birdcage evening primrose or devil's lantern.  When I saw the flowers for the first time, those other names didn't make sense to me.  I read that when the plant dies, the stems curl upwards into what looks like a birdcage.  Even though I found a few photos online, I still couldn't believe this beautiful, delicate flower could end up looking like that.  Well, this year I found irrefutable proof, up close and personal.  Amazing!  Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor...

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

~ Unknown

Joshua Trees in Bloom

More from our camping trip:  Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) in various stages of bloom. They are quite beautiful up close; so dense and fleshy compared to the dry, spiky nature of the tree itself.

the well-protected bud

(photo by Chris Ervin)

the full bloom

"One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. 'You'd be destroying what makes it special,' she said. 'It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.'"

~ Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle)

A Different Kind of Easter Lily

One of our "missions" on our camping trip in the East Mojave during the weekend of March 20-21 was to see if we could find desert lilies (Hesperocallis undulata) in bloom. Someone had reported them blooming in Anza-Borrego, so we hoped the conditions might be right in the East Mojave as well. We found many with buds, but no blooms—until we happened upon a south-facing sandy slope. There we found a few with full blossoms open and many more coming soon. It really is a treat to run across such a lush "garden" in an otherwise arid land.

Lined up, waiting to bloom...

A closeup of the bud (photo by my husband)...

When you have only two pennies left in the world,

buy a loaf of bread with one,

and a lily with the other.

~ Chinese Proverb

The Desert is Blooming

We went camping in the desert last weekend and spring has definitely arrived!  I'll have more photos to share soon.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Bladderpod (Isomeris arborea)

Everything is blooming most recklessly;
if it were voices instead of colors,
there would be an unbelievable shrieking
into the heart of the night.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

Happy Cactus Monday!

Silver cholla (Cylindropuntia echinocarpa)

I'm still knee-deep in book editing (I never knew how much work goes into creating an index until I first worked on one myself), but it's been so long since my last post I wanted to pop in and say hello to everyone.

Since it also happens to be Cactus Monday, I'm sharing these silver cholla blossoms. This is one of the photos I included in my 2010 calendar, "Mojave in Bloom," for sale in my Zazzle shop. The calendar includes cactus and desert wildlfowers, all found in the East Mojave.

Mojave in Bloom 2010 Calendar by dragonflyseye

There's also a second calendar of East Mojave desert scenery and I've also been working on one of garden flowers as well. There are simply not enough hours in the day for all the things I want to accomplish.

I hope all of you are enjoying this change in season we're experiencing. We here in Southern California are enjoying a bit of rain and I know many others are already experiencing snow. Time for soup and sweaters!

You can check out other cactus delights at Terri's Painted Daisies.

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly
changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.
~ Henry Beston, Northern Farm

Sierra flowers

I experienced a couple new flowers during my trip (and please let me know if I have misidentified them)...

Nevada goldenrod (Solidago spectabilis)

Oregon checker mallow (Sidalcea oregana)

They make a nice meadow bouquet!

This one I always liked when I was little...

Ranger's buttons (Sphenosciadium capitellatum)

And let's not forget this treasure I stumbled upon in the garden; the good old daisy knows how to compete for attention.

Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still.

~ Rumi

Cactus Monday

How about a desert bouquet for Cactus Monday? A bright pink beavertail, desert chicory, and a bee thrown in for good measure.

Even numbers tend to add too much symmetry,

and then your bouquet won't look natural.

~ Amanda Gain

Apache Plume

I realize I haven't posted anything for a week now. We've been busy trying to have some fun while my husband is home from work this week (he starts a new job on Monday). A sort of "staycation" I suppose. Well, it's time to get back to playing with photographs and blogs and stuff.

This photo is the feathery seed head of Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa). It's actually a rather large bush, up to six feet tall, but this is a closeup of the plume. They are quite simply magical, waving their delicate fans in the breeze. One thinks perhaps a fairy might appear at any moment.

Because of their pale coloring, they're dificult to spot as you're speeding through the desert. We had never seen them before we happened upon them a couple years ago, and now know to keep an eye out for them. We still haven't seen them during their bloom; it looks as if the flowers are quite attractive too.

A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near.
~ Author Unknown

Morning Glory

Southern California Morning Glory

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.

-Walt Whitman

Wildflower Cards

Over the weekend I spent some time creating a few new products for my Zazzle store. I had fun creating a matching series of cards with some of my wildflower photos. It was challenging to identify the rose sage, which we ran across on a backpacking trip up Mt. San Jacinto last July, but I finally found some photos that matched. It is an amazingly beautiful flower to come across on a hot, dusty trail.

I've been kind of in limbo lately, taking photos but not quite geared up to getting them beyond my computer. Hope to get there soon...

Gratitude

Today is to be counted as one of the best days of my life. I'm what you might call a professional self-doubter, so I was utterly astounded when I found out this morning that my Desert Globemallow photo won a prize in the Orange County Register's wildflower photo contest. Me?! Yes! Second place in the "Nature & More" category.

I am so grateful! I am so lucky that a special lady I used to work with read about the contest, thought of me, and told me I should enter. She's one of those people who's always thinking of others, and look at the result she produced. Plus, I only informed a couple dozen of my friends about the contest and posted it here on my blog, yet my photo received 246 votes! How wonderful it is that people take the time to do things like that for each other. I didn't win the popular vote (the winner had over 80,000 votes!), but I sure confirmed I have great friends.

This is also the first time I have ever won anything based on "talent" rather than luck. My photography became a more serious adventure only recently. I somehow found the courage to start putting it out into the world, and it seems this prize must be my reward for taking that risk. What a pleasing surprise to have my creative efforts validated.

THANK YOU to everyone who is so supportive of me and this creative journey. To honor your kindness, I will attempt to become less proficient at doubting and second-guessing myself!

Photo Contest

For those of you who might be inclined to help a fellow blogger... I have entered a photo in the Orange County Register's Wildflower Photo Contest. You can help my odds of winning the popular vote by clicking here and then clicking the "Save Vote" button to add a vote for my photo. And please feel free to pass this along to anyone else who can spare an extra click or two. Voting ends April 30.

Thank you so much!