The bad grasses, mainly foxtail barley and ripgut brome, are dropping their seeds. This means that Petunia's off-the-leash walks are at an end - she is so enthusiastic she will run right through the grass stands. The hazard of bad seeds getting into her nose and eyes and ears is too great to risk. Anyway, I have been so busy I am way behind on the wildflower blogging, so this will serve as a catch-up and possibly the last of the season. We still have some not-so-wild flowers to go, though (I'm behind in those too). And I just realized, the last wildflower post was April 7, nearly a month ago.   In mid April, the photos to the left show another kind of malocothrix, growing in a field and up close. In the closeup it kind of looks like tidy tips, but is definitely not. The flower looks something like a dandelion but a paler yellow. This blue larkspur is not so common on our place, and off our ranch I have seen it growing mostly on north facing slopes, and again, not that common. A really pretty flower. And there is an elder, nearing full bloom in mid April.  In mid April, this yellow composite, I think an Encelia, began blooming in one of the small canyons. And this bright yellow yarrow. And white yarrow, one of my favorites.  These Clarkias had just begun to bloom in the small canyon in mid April and I am still seeing them, in shaded areas and north-facing slopes. Really pretty.Another favorite is scarlet bugler, a native Penstemon. How many favorites does that make? The hummingbirds like it too. I really look forward to this one - began blooming in late April. The yuccas (Y. whipplei and I hope I spelled it correctly) never fail to amaze me. We have an odd, south facing hillside that has quite a few of them. They just grow there. I can't see anything different about the soil or otherwise, I guess one got started there and keeps proliferating. A welcome neighbor, very spectacularly beautiful!   The Matilija poppy, Calochortus venustus, is not uncommon around here but doesn't bloom every year. This year, with near-normal rainfall, I guess it decided to come out with some flowers.Well, somewhere I have a photo of a really nice little plant in the morning glory genus...can't find it right now. When I do I will post. And now that I think about it, there are lots more flowers to come... |
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