Natural History Wanderings

Photographer Ron Niebrugge had the following Anza-Borrego Wildflower report on his blog today.

Another storm pasted through this area late last week, but didn’t bring too much in the way of precipitation. Temperatures forecasted to reach into the 90′s this week won’t do the limited and late wildflower bloom any favors.

The best area in the Park that I have seen has been along the Elephant Tree Trail. Here you can find some nice cactus blooms especially Beaver-tail and Barrel. There are a wide variety of other wildflowers – not the thick fields that get photographers excited, but a nice variety that should interest the flower peepers including poppies, phacelia, lavender and Desert Chicory to name just a few. There are many small blooms that I didn’t take the time to identify.

In Borrego Palm Canyon you can find more lavender, lots of Chuparosa and a little Brittlebush along with other wildflowers.

Yesterday in Coyote Canyon I spotted small patches of Sand Verbena, but it is very limited. The famous fields along Henderson Canyon Road are empty.

On a positive note, I’m seeing lots of cactus with buds – I think there will be widespread cactus blooming later this month.

Check out his photos and look at his blog at: Anza-Borrego Wildflower Update – 2013.