Road Trip ~ eastern Sierras ~ Death Valley
We traveled to Death Valley in April for two reasons ~ pleasant temperatures and wildflowers. Certainly, there are spectacular displays and varieties of wildflowers all over California, but located in the hottest and driest place in North America, the flowers of Death Valley are a site that must be seen. Over 1,000 species of plants live in this seemingly inhospitable climate but not all burst into brilliant bloom. Those that do have a very short growing season but how sweet it is. Each year's display depends on the well-spaced timing and amount of winter and early spring rainfalls, lack of drying winds and abundance of sufficient warmth. Lower elevations bloom from mid-February through April, mid-elevations early April through early May and high elevations above 5,000 feet late April through early June.
I must admit that this year's crop did not form a spectacular carpet of flowers but we were fortunate to see different varieties in both low and mid elevations. In fact, we felt like big game hunters armed with our cameras and a flower guide. It was fun finding, photographing and identifying as many plants as we did. We felt fortunate to witness God's indelible mark on the cycle of life. Small, delicate and beautiful as they appear, these flowers are tenacious in fulfilling their purpose.
Golden-Evening Primrose
Desert Painbrush
Desert Aster
Whitemargin Spurge
Beavertail Cactus
Silver Cholla
Desert Chicory
Rock Daisy
Broad-Flowered Gilia
Desert Gold
Pebble Pincushion
Desert Five-Spot
Broad-Leaved Gilia
Creostotebush
The joke was on us this year. As we drove homeward, the landscape along both sides of the road was painted in a yellow carpet of flowers. Certainly not the variety of flowers that we found in Death Valley, but a carpet affect never-the-less.
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