#desertflowers

Join me for an epic overland adventure to Coyote Creek in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, in eastern San Diego county, Southern California.  This is one of the most pristine and beautiful desert wilderness areas I have ever seen, and is only accessible beyond the first few miles by high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicles.  The northernmost area of Borrego Springs is the entry point to Coyote Canyon for vehicle traffic, and the winter wildflowers are starting to bloom over the open fields.  

Plants of the desert

Story and photos by Alec Bryan, BLM Tumblr blogger

Deserts are often depicted as barren, windblown, rolling hills of interminable grains of sand, devoid of all life and bereft of changes in color but for the shadows of its waves. Many of the deserts of the Western United States; however, play host to a variety of vibrant plant life.

Some of the plants exhibit beautiful symmetry and color like the sego lily. Others, like the wholeleaf Indian paintbrush, get color and nutrients by feeding on nearby plants. The desert trumpet changes colors in the fall and often is found mistakenly when it pops under someone’s footfall.

Monsoon season in the Southwest is an opportune time to see the blooming cholla cactus, Galisteo sand verbena and numerous other plants that have remained dormant until the swelling skies begin to burst. Some plants exhibit strange growth patterns, like the desert cabbage, which looks like it has been taken straight from the sea floor. Apache plume catches light as it dances across its pink, silky feathers.