Natural History Wanderings

Death Valley National Park reports

Blooming in the northern Grapevine Mountains right now are some of the showiest bushes in Death Valley, the Encelias. Resembling a myriad of miniature sunflowers, Encelias are a favorite food for butterflies. Sometimes when you approach an Encelia bush, it almost looks like the flowers are flying away as a flock of butterflies suddenly takes off!

Wildflower update:

There are a few flowers starting to bloom in the northern Grapevine Mountains. I saw Encelia, Mohavia, Brown-eyed Evening Primrose, Golden Evening Primrose, and Caltha-Leaved Phacelia on a recent hike there. However, the seedlings at the mouth of Titus Canyon are still very tiny. Blooms are also starting to show up on the West Side Road. There are a lot of seedlings coming up along Highway 190 between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. This area should be looking good in a couple of weeks. A higher than normal crop of Desert Five Spot is possible in this area, but I haven’t seen many Gravel Ghost leaf rosettes.

Bad news for the wildflowers are the warmer than normal temperatures and recent breezy weather. This will not affect the bigger seedlings getting ready to bloom, but can be quite detrimental to the tiny seedlings and affect the length of the flower season. Wishing for just one more rainstorm

See photos at  Death Valley National Park.