Saturday, March 5, 2011

Anza Borrego Desert State Park in Bloom




I visited Anza Borrego for two days this past week and although the wildflowers were only rated a 4 out of 10 on the wildflower website, I thought it was splendid. I counted 30 flower species in bloom on a 3-hour hike to Maidenhair Falls. The treasure at the end was a display of stream orchids--who would have expected this in the desert! Spotted in bloom along Hellhole Canyon: Canterbury Bells, Bigelow's Monkey Flower, Fiesta Flower, Desert Lavender, Fiddleneck, Chuparosa, Ocotillo, Rock Daisy, Indigo Bush, Desert Dandelion, Sugar Bush, Wild Almond, Bladder pod, Apricot Mallow, Chia, Cheesebush, Brown-eyed Primrose, etc.,etc. This State Park is awesome.