Consider the Lilies Coreopsis

With all the rain we've had this year, there was talk of a superbloom in California, much like last year. A superbloom happens in arid areas that get an unusually wet year resulting in an unusual abundance of wildflowers. There was one last year, but we weren't here to appreciate it. So, on the first of April we made a trip might check out the wildflowers. Some locations we considered were Carizzo Plain, the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve (there was a good bloom there at the end of March, 2017 when we passed through on our way back from getting our Thai visas in Los Angeles), and Red Rock Canyon State Park in the Mojave Desert.

Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve, March 31 2017

From what we read on blogs, Carizzo Plain was okay, but it looked like the bloom period was a bit stretched out. The Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve has a live webcam, but the views at the time weren's very spectacular. Nothing like we saw back in 2017. (pictured above)

Hillside in Red Rock Canyon State Park, Fall 1998

So we decided to visit Red Rock Canyon State Park, where we had fond memories of a superbloom back in 1998.

While the blooms in Red Rock Canyon were okay, they weren't a nice as back in 1998. We did, however, see some yellow carpets of Goldfields (Lasthenia gracilis) between California City and Red Rock Canyon.

Carpets of Goldfield (Lasthenia gracilis) North of California City

But the best displays we saw were the normally bare slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains near Walkers Pass where God had painted entire hillsides yellow with Bigelow Coreopsis (Leptosyne bigelovii) blooms. And I thought of the when Jesus was talking to his disciples where he said:

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Luke 12:27 ESV)

The Mountains on the North Side of Highway 178 Headed up to Walkers Pass

Here in the deserts of California God did not just clothe the flowers in splendor, He dressed entire mountains in attire suitable for the most festive occasions.

Getting Closer

Pacific Crest Trail Winding Through Golden Slopes of Bigelow Coreopsis (Leptosyne bigelovii)
North of Walkers Pass, Kern County, California

Closeup of Bigelow Coreopsis (Leptosyne bigelovii)

Following are some of the flowers we saw over the course of two days. Stops were made in California City, Red Rock Canyon State Park (Kern County), Inyokern (Kern County), Fossil Falls (Inyo County), Little Lake (Inyo County), Walkers Pass (Kern County), and Highway 155 between Alta Sierra and Glennville (Kern County). Photos are in alphabetical order by species name.

Abronia pogonantha - Mojave Sand Verbena

Amsinckia tessellata - Devil's Lettuce

Anisocoma acaulis - scale bud

Astragalus pursuit - woollypod milkvetch

Baileya multiradiata - desert marigold

Castilleja exserta - purple owl's clover

Chaenactis fremontii - Fremont's pincushion

Chylismia claviformis - brown eyes

Cleomella arborea - bladderpod

Cryptantha intermedia - common cryptantha

Cylindropuntia echinocarpa - silver cholla

Deinandra arida - Red Rock tar plant

Encelia actoni - Acton's brittle brush

Eriogonum inflatum - desert trumpet

Eriophyllum wallacei - Wallace's woollydaisy

Erythranthe rhodoptera - Red Rock Canyon monkeyflower

Gilia ochroleuca - volcanic Gilia

Lasthenia gracilis - common goldfields

Lepidium fremontii - desert alyssum
A very fragrant flower

Lepidium flavor - yellow peppergrass

Layia glandulosa - whitedaisy tidytips

Malacothrix glabrata - desert dandelion

Mentzelia abicaulis - whitestem blazingstar

Oenothera primaveris - desert evening-primrose

Oenothera californica - California evening-primrose

Rafinesquia neomexicana - desert chicory

Phacelia tanacetifolia - lacy phacelia

Rumex hymenosepalus - canaigre dock

Salvia carduacea - thistle sage

Sphaeralcea ambigua - apricot mallow