My, how time flies! And we've been very busy. Lots and lots of work this year. This is good, since its been a pretty decent rain-year, and therefore many native plants have sprouted and flowered. Here are more photos of wildflowers from one of our work sites on the north end of the Antelope Valley (that's the same valley where the famous
Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve is located). I took these photos over 2 months ago, and I'm finally finding the time to post them for you. And, rest assured, I have been snapping
many more great shots in the mean-time!
We were working in an area that was composed of soils with lots of clays. Many of the California Floristic Region flowers love these soils, such as California Goldfields (
Lasthenia californica), the little yellow flowers in the photos here.
Another amazing clay-loving flower that we found was the Mariposa lily (
Calochortus kennedyi). Brilliant! Being a
bulb, this plant appears to prefer tough-to-dig clay soils so that digging mammals like gophers cannot eat their succulent underground flesh.
I tried to take a photo that could impress upon everyone the awesome display that these lilies form. There's a flowering lily about every 10 feet in some areas. Unfortunately, cheap digital cameras just can't capture the subtlety and drama of this flower.
And another clay lover - a little onion,
Allium denticulatum. This little onion absolutely covers the ground in some areas. These photos only partially capture the magic
of being amongst a field of blooming onions. Oh, and they bloom for a couple weeks, and are gone. Like the goldfields, the mariposa lily, and all other desert annuals. They are but brief visitors to our world!
My, how time flies! And we've been very busy. Lots and lots of work this year. This is good, since its been a pretty decent rain-year, and therefore many native plants have sprouted and flowered. Here are more photos of wildflowers from one of our work sites on the north end of the Antelope Valley (that's the same valley where the famous Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve is located). I took these photos over 2 months ago, and I'm finally finding the time to post them for you. And, rest assured, I have been snapping 
many more great shots in the mean-time!
We were working in an area that was composed of soils with lots of clays. Many of the California Floristic Region flowers love these soils, such as California Goldfields (Lasthenia californica), the little yellow flowers in the photos here.
Another amazing clay-loving flower that we found was the Mariposa lily (Calochortus kennedyi). Brilliant! Being a bulb, this plant appears to prefer tough-to-dig clay soils so that digging mammals like gophers cannot eat their succulent underground flesh. 
I tried to take a photo that could impress upon everyone the awesome display that these lilies form. There's a flowering lily about every 10 feet in some areas. Unfortunately, cheap digital cameras just can't capture the subtlety and drama of this flower.
And another clay lover - a little onion, Allium denticulatum. This little onion absolutely covers the ground in some areas. These photos only partially capture the magic
of being amongst a field of blooming onions. Oh, and they bloom for a couple weeks, and are gone. Like the goldfields, the mariposa lily, and all other desert annuals. They are but brief visitors to our world!
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