We did a moderate hike on the Peterson Creek Park trails on a grey, damp, windy day and spotted some wildflowers along the route: Comandra umbellata (bastard toadflax) was emerging next to the Grasslands Loop Trail. My first spotting of … Continue reading →
Long flowered mertensia (longiflorum) can be spotted near Neskonlith Lake in late April and early May. They have been spotted near Chase and Adams Lake too. They follow yellow glacier lilies in semi-open meadows. Mertensia grows from a tuber-like root … Continue reading →
Although we get out to hike, bike, paddle, and walk in the hills, we sometimes spend the day in the yard, gardening for the whole day. On some of these days, we stop to take a few photos, a pause … Continue reading →
At the end of April, we hiked a large loop on the Barnes Lake Trails in dry but windy conditions. The lower end of the trails winds through the grasslands where we spotted a number of small-flowered woodland stars (lithophragma … Continue reading →
We hiked into the open meadows and over rocky hills to the northeast, mostly between the Lions Head Hills and Neskonlith Meadows (above Chase) and found lots of desert parsley emerging. Fern-leaved desert parsley (lomatium dissectum) grows from a woody … Continue reading →
In the rocky south-facing hills above Neskonlith Lake, wildflowers bloom soon after the snows melt. the star of the show are yellow glacier lilies (erythronium grandiflorum). A couple of weeks later long-flowered bluebells (mertensia longiflora) graces the slopes. Growing in … Continue reading →
A series of short posts on wildflowers encountered while out hiking. This hike was a grey day in the hills above Neskonlith Lake. Raindrops were still beading on petals. Low, grey light made photography difficult, but what could a better … Continue reading →
While we were in the Phoenix area we visited the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona. It is a large area with almost 100 years of plantings. We wandered through the gardens for a few hours and took many … Continue reading →
We hiked from Catalina State Park into the mountains, climbing up the Romero Canyon Trail to Romero Pools and back. Along the way, purple owl clover was blooming. Castilleja exserta is an annual herb that blooms in spring. This hemiparasite … Continue reading →
A Wildflower Journal is not a definitive botanical resource website. In the end it is a blog, based on experiences of hiking, paddling, and exploring in our larger area. After collecting a number of photos from specific places, they are … Continue reading →
As we hiked higher into Sabino Canyon in the Santa Catalina Range near Tuscon, more varieties of wildflowers were around every canyon in mid-March. All photos taken by the author. Parry’s penstemon is the superstar of March in the desert … Continue reading →
Sabino Canyon State Park is in the Santa Catalina Range on the northeast side of Tuscon. The mountains rise about 2000m from the desert. Hiking trails typically follow canyons up into the hills. In Sabino Canyon a shuttle brings hikers … Continue reading →
