Monday, March 15, 2010

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park—My World

Anza-Borrego is one of the lesser known of California’s State parks.  It lies in the eastern part of San Diego County extending down to the border with Mexico.

islands2 It is, however, well know to enthusiasts of desert wild flowers.  I am certainly no botanist or horticulturalist, I can’t always identify the plants I see, but I find it interesting to observe how things grow in the desert.

When I walked through the campground I noticed that there were islands of vegetation.  Smaller plants grouped under the larger shrubs and often two or three of the shrubs would be grouped together.  The smaller plants seemed to be hiding in the shade of the larger or perhaps the grouping trapped more water.

These are some of the shrubs anchoring the islands.

If someone knows what this plant is I’d love to know, I couldn’t find it in any of my books.

Here are some of the smaller plant living in their shadow.

Map picture
mwtblack

My World Tuesday Is brought to us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

24 comments:

Sylvia K said...

That looks like a really delightful place to visit and I love all the flowers! Your photos are terrific as always! Such lovely colors! Hope you have a great week, Martha!

Sylvia

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

That looks like an interesting place to go. I'm impressed that you learned all the different names. I'm trying to do that for the wild plants around here and am not making much progress.

Linda Reeder said...

I love going in search of wild flowers, and like you, I want to know their names. Desert plants are so exotic to those of us who live in wet climates.

Diane AZ said...

Lovely wildflowers, some are familiar but most are new to me. The chicory and desert dandelions are so cheerful and the map is neat.

Barb said...

Oh - what a lovely Primrose and so early! I like that Phacelia, too - very pretty. We're in the final stages of planning for our CA trip, Martha. Hope I can meet up with you in Sacramento!

Anonymous said...

Such explosions of colours - lovely flower shots!

Johnny Nutcase said...

aw, fun! great post! I love the desert in the spring - so many cool things to see. The flowers are all beautiful, i love that primrose at the end. Sounds like a good park , glad you had fun, great photos!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Martha: Those are such beautiful captures.

Arija said...

Wildflowers assume a greater significance in arid areas. Beautiful park and flowers.

Carver said...

What a great place to visit and such a variety of wildflowers for the senses.

Anonymous said...

told myself that someday i would be able to visit all of the state/regional parks here in california. this is one of those places i long to visit. you captured the beauties of the place.

Noelle Johnson said...

We are now visiting my sister in the Palm Springs area and there are so many desert dandelions along the roadside. So beautiful!

Jim said...

Beauties, every one.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Indrani said...

Beautiful macros of the flowers. I didn't know so many names.

Ebie said...

These are beautiful.
I have not seen the desert in bloom yet, so this will be a great opportunity for me to check this out. A fellow blogger from SD have planned last year to meet up.
I also use that website for updates of the flowers.

Regina said...

Splendid and lovely world!

Randi said...

What a lovely place to visit. I have never heard of Desert Lavender! Brilliant captures.

Victoria Tsavdaridou said...

Lovely place!!!! Your photos are awesome!!!

Barbara said...

I love to see flowers and this has been a treat to see some different ones. Lovely photos.

Anonymous said...

Dear Martha, hope everything is fine with you all. Being able to visit this site of yours, which is getting more impressive by the day, is always of great joy, as it is able to provide life and its happiness, tonight, even inside a desert. Thank you for those beautiful images. Please have you all a nice Wednesday.

Carolyn Ford said...

Is that the campground by the Palm Canyon and the visitor center? I have hiked back to the oasis so many times. It is so nice back there. You found some plants that I didn't see. The canyons offer different varieties than the desert floor alone. It's so beautiful out there!

Katney said...

Is this in the current season? I've got to get to the desert in the spring. Is this your first camping outing of the year? We will go to the beach for clean-up day next month.

happily retired gal said...

The desert in bloom is such a lovely place! I have no clue what the mysterious blossom is but I appreciate you identifying the others and hope someone helps you out with this one.
Hugs and blessings,

Lindy said...

Lovely wildflowers! I am familiar with a few of these but not all.