Report and photos submitted by Paul Wolterbeek from BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM
WILDFLOWER BLOOM UPDATE FOR SUPERIOR, AZ — & EAST TOWARDS GLOBE & SAN CARLOS APACHE RESERVATION
The massive hillsides of Mexican Goldpoppies that were epic over the past month are now waning in the easy-to-reach foothills along Silver King Mine Road and below Peachville Mountain four miles north of Superior and in the Tonto National Forest — but experienced hikers in good condition can still reach a photogenic mountainside bloom covering the upper western half of Peachville Mountain, or hike the Arizona Trail below Montana Mountain to access southeast facing hillsides there which appeared to be at peak when I last visited this area Sunday March 4. For details & directions check out [http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/az.html]
Silver King Mine Road (near highway 60 milepost 225, approximately across from the ‘Welcome To Superior’ sign) remains a fun spot for closeups and “friends-in-Spring-flowers” closeup portraits. Watch along the road for blooming Chia (Salvia columbariae) mixed with chicory, phacelia, bluedicks, berberis, dodder and other March flowers. See more photos and past reports at http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/peachville.html
Click read more for continuation of report and to see photos
ROUND MOUNTAIN PARK IN GLOBE
Drive highway 60 east from Superior another 45 minutes towards Miami and Globe for more wildflowers. You’ll see vivid clumps of golden deer vetch (Lotus rigidus) and tufted evening primrose, ragged rock flower, eaton’s penstemon and red mint in Queen Creek Canyon just past Superior — and nice roadside stands of goldpoppies in Claypool as you approach the Safeway plaza another 20-minutes drive east of Queen Creek Canyon. Continue on to the city of Globe’s excellent Round Mountain Park (located just west of the highway 60/70 stoplights; drive the road behind Zen’s Cafe and Two Lanes bar to get there) to see and photograph wallflower, bluedicks, false garlic — and to smell fragrant berberis. Later this month watch for delphinium and doubting mariposa lilies along the East Mountain Trail of this close-to-the-city park, and other annuals, too. Trails at Round Mountain park are fantastic for hedgehog cacti in April and May; if you’ve never been here – make a point of hiking Round
Mountain Park trails this spring. This pagelink is dull, but has general info about round mountain park
http://www.globeaz.gov/departments/recreation/round-mountain-park
PERIDOT MESA, SAN CARLOS APACHE RESERVATION
Landscape “carpets of color” photos are what you’re really hoping for? Peridot Mesa on the San Carlos Apache Reservation 20 minutes drive east of Globe remains a prime spot as of March 8. Peridot Mesa has been arguably the best spot for big poppy blooms in all of Arizona this spring — as professional photographers who have been there over the past three weeks will attest. Goldpoppies have faded from some upper ridges of the mesa, but interior slopes of the south-facing ‘amphitheater’ that you see while driving along Highway 70 are more thoroughly filled with poppies at their peak now than they were in late February when the first reports and photos were posted. Peridot Mesa is arguably the most accessible place flower photographers can find if driving from Phoenix or Tucson. You’re on 65MPH pavement on highway 70 to within less than a mile of the mesa, you can see the color easily from hwy 70, and the dirt road leading up and over the mesa is suitable for just about any vehicle driven slowly and carefully. No 4WD or high clearance needed. And this is important: you need a $10 recreation permit to explore and photograph flowers on the Apache reservation. Buy yours in Globe at the Circle K or Fast Stop convenience stores (both are near the highway60/70 crossroads); or at the Basha’s Grocery Store on the reservation — conveniently, just two miles east of Peridot Mesa. Directions: from Globe take highway 70 east for about 20 minutes. After milepost #268 begin to slow down and watch for a lefthand turn north onto an unmarked dirt road; unmarked, that is, except for two ‘Capital H’ shaped metal posts which bracket a cattleguard. Drive this well-graded dirt road about 1/2 mile towards the color – you can see the poppy-covered hillsides from highway 70. See photos from Peridot Mesa
http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30857
all photos from peridot mesa on the san carlos apache rez
Natural History Wanderings 
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