PBS Forum

Lee,

When I visited ABDSP last year, I saw very few H. Undulata, not the  profusion I find in similar locations this year. ( 2022/23 was a record rainfall year)  If you look at the photo I took of the clustered group.  It's in one of the highest traffic areas in Borrego Springs. Literally next to the serpent sculpture. I observed more in very dry areas than the more traditional spots adjacent to stream beds or close to water sources. In addition there are a several on high ground rises where all water would trend away from them. So they are puzzling in all respects.  Yes we have had good rains this year, not like last winter though. A ranger I spoke with flat out shared the general bloom is behind schedule, but not H. Undulata.  I saw a healthy population of blooming size and juvenile plants. Everything I've read echoes your frustration growing them. 

More rain this coming weekend.

 

Thanks Uli,

Hopefully the low desert areas begin to warm and get a couple more opportunities for moisture this season  .   Poppy Season should be great in Southern California this year, already seeing patches show up here and there. 

Visited Anza Borrego Desert State Park 2-24-24. While the overall wild flower display was average to below average for the amount of rain. The H. Undulata were abundant.  In speaking to a ranger to discuss my observations, he shared it's one of the best seasons for desert lily in the past  several years. 

Lachenalia Ensifolia ( pink form)

First of the season in San Diego.

Martin,

Those are beautiful. The color tone on  blooms is really nice and deep , all nicely grown. 
I have to give Clivia credit to Fred as I shared .  The hybrid is vigorous, beautiful leaves and a stunning long lasting flower. 

I have one last Lachenalia for the season to post this week. We ate having one last blast of rain today. Hope it blooms tomorrow. 

That's a really beautiful bloom, do the green tips remain or do they slowly color up? Striking flower spikes. 

In bloom
Clivia hybrid miniata x gardenii
Lachenalia Violacea
Echinopsis " Hans Sachs" just too beautiful to leave out.

Big thanks to Fred B. in Boston for hybridizing this amazing clivia in 2005.  Thanks to Ken Blackford for the Lachenalia 

A nice sunny warm weekend for San Diego
I to

One of my favorite Lachenalia in my collection.
Lachenalia Carnosa

Hello All,
Some friends and I were out to visit Anza Borrego Desert State Park (Colorado Desert) a couple weeks ago. Thought I would share some pics from our outing.  To those familiar, I was on the west flanks of Coyote Mountain in the Coyote Creek Wash area. The wildflower zone trends along the base of the mountain to the southeast intersecting Henderson Canyon Road and fizzles out on the other side of the road as the natural water flow is diverted at that point. The larger section of the same  wild flower zone is at the Eastern terminus of Di Giorgio Rd. The pavement becomes a dirt road and eventually a trail.  We hiked back up the wash to the narrows to see if there were more Hesperocallis up the valley. I'm not sure if it was too early in the season, usually have visited to see wild flowers later in the season and there are many more Hesperocallis in bloom.  Is it a Super bloom, I don't believe so.  Although with the rains this past week and  more this coming week, the low desert, is pretty spectacular.  I was lucky to head out on a Monday after a rain overnight, the plants were flush with moisture and Springtime.
The Colorado Desert is the western arm of the Sonoran Desert, its also the driest. Most of the moisture for the Colorado desert is winter moisture. The eastern and southern portions are more influenced by the Monsoon and get most of their moisture in Summer. The saguaro does not grow in the Colorado desert for this reason.  We have the Ocotillo, Teddy Bear Cholla as mascot

If you have a chance to visit, well worth the effort. A good two hours from San Diego, but only 10 minutes from Borrego Springs. I'm headed out one more time, to visit a spot especially interesting for Hesperocallis Undulata. It involves a little off roading to get there, probably why its still intact with Desert Lily.  It's  in the Southwest corner of the park along the Laguna Escarpment, isolated from the three other areas I have known Desert Lily to  grow near Borrego Springs. 

Anza Borrego Desert State Park  Colorado Desert:
-Grape Soda Lupine
-Sand Verbena, ( only area where we saw White Sand Verbena, all other examples were predominated by purple )  
 Desert Big Horn Sheep Sculpture  one of 130 across Borrego Valley by  Ricardo Breceda
-Hesperocallis Undulata  ( Desert Lily)
-Cholla (ouch), Sand Verbena and Big Horn Sculpture
- Yellow Sunflower and mixed flowers
- Dodder plant ( parasitic) wrapped around  Lupine. It looks other worldly, I see it hiking in the mountains  
  and the desert. There are many species of Dodder that grow in the park.  Supposedly it will not kill the host? The 
  Lupine sure does not look happy cloaked in Dodder.  Dodder finds its pray by scent, and each.
-Grape Soda Lupine, Verbena and Desert Primrose.
-Grape Soda  Lupine again, 4 foot + flower spikes just a beautiful specimen attesting to the amount of water the desert has   seen from a strong Summer Monsoon coupled with Tropical Storm Kay. Followed by the 22/23 winter rains. Borrego Springs has had measurable rainfall each month since August.  

Its always an amazing sight to see the poppy's bloom in late Winter at least here in SoCal. 
The last time they put on a spectacular display was 2019. I saw them and took the attached photos, I believe March 14th at the Walker Canyon Poppy Reserve. It's pretty amazing when you are driving the 15 and traffic comes to a dead stop....to view the endless carpet of flowers. 
It literally was like the poppy fields in the Wizard of OZ but Orange. ( these are not opium poppy's either, so there is that too) There were police trying to keep traffic moving but people were pulling off the road on an interstate. Jumping the fence, running to the poppy field like there was free money to be found, taking a selfie, walk back to their car and get back into the traffic. It was something I thought I would never see again.....on 3-18-19, the party was over as the city/county decided to save the poppy's they needed to close the park, and just get the interstate moving. 

I can share I saw people being extremely thoughtless,  walking through the fields trampling plants.  There are many paths that meander the park. The poppy's needed a little TLC for sure. Closing the park was their answer.  April came and the short lived display faded. The hillsides and valleys dried to a crisp drab golden brown and summer began. The Poppy issue was put to bed.

No Party in Walker Canyon this year. The park has been officially closed today 2-8-23, for the remainder of the Poppy Bloom. 
The city/county have decided to close the Poppy Reserve prior to any issues developing.
The pictures I have included are from a few days prior to the abrupt closure in 2019. Where are the throngs of people destroying the poppy plants? Luckily it seemed the only areas with lots of people were within about 200 yards of the entrance area. A 10 minute walk up the main canyon and into the hills there was literally no one around.

 Heading out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park, to see the wild flowers this next week. What I have seen online, looks like it going to be well worth it. Desert Lily ( Hesperocallis undulata) seem to be blooming across the park. always a good sign out there.

Eschscholzia califorica from 2019 Walker Canyon Poppy Reserve

I Have some friends that had a landscape designer add haemanthus to their shade garden..,planted deep and amongst Azaelea and camellia they were not blooming and frankly in decline.  I shared with them we could easily correct, these are great bulbs for So.Cal.  In removing them to redo the beds I found they are very prolific. I was following roots for several feet with many offsets along the way. We found the original  invoice,  they had 3 beds with 7 bulbs per bed.   I removed 65 bulbs. Replanting now Iin 3 seperate areas around the house. 
Planting  the bulbs properly and in slightly raised fast draining mix has made all the difference. See below.


 

Mike
San Diego
Coastal

Just started to bloom this week
.

Rimmer,
beautifully grown plants the flowers are stunning, additionally the tag health after a few years is  amazing.

Cyrtanthus Mackenii 

Mike
San Diego