Natural History Wanderings

Death Valley National Park has a new wildflower update for 3/13/15

Have you ever had a garden, that was growing so beautifully, and just before harvest time, the bugs got it? That’s how I felt when I went down to Ashford Mill this week. The sphinx moth caterpillars have DEVOURED the flowers there. The sand verbena – gone. Literally gone, not just gone to seed, but eaten up almost completely by the voracious caterpillars. Guess it IS their garden, after all. There are lots of desert five-spot blooming, but they are covered by little red velvet mites. I don’t think they will last long enough to reach their full glory, so see them soon. There are still fields of desert gold painting the landscape near Ashford Mill, so it is still beautiful, but no longer the hot spot. My hot spot for this week is a little further down the road and a little higher in elevation. In between Jubilee and Salsbury Passes, there is an area with lots of brittlebush blooming. Get out of your car and walk around, and find an abundance of different species, especially belly flowers, to be seen. Gravel Ghost, Fivespot, Golden, Narrow-Leaved and Shredding Evening Primroses, Desert Gold Poppy, Mohavea, Blazing Star, Bigelow Mimulus, Desert Star, Wooly Daisy and Broad-Leaved Gilia are some of the flowers I saw there.

There are nice patches of Golden Evening Primrose and Phacelia adding delightful color below the 3,000 foot level on Highway 190 west of Townes Pass. Encelias are brightening up the landscape from Panamint Springs to Father Crowley Lookout. Gravel Ghost and Fivespot, although dwarfed, are practically everywhere in the park. The Pebble Pincushion, Phacelia, Desert Fivespot and Gravel Ghost just south of Badwater are particularly nice. There are still fantastic fields of Desert Gold along Highway 190 from Furnace Creek to the Beatty Cut-off, and lots of Phacelia laying a purple carpet through Mud Canyon, but the really hot weather we had at the beginning of last week caused a lot of flowers to go to seed. I would say the lower elevation roadside bloom, although still nice, is past its peak. But there are still plenty of good flowers to be had. The higher elevations haven’t even gotten started yet!

The greatest reward is for those who venture into the canyons. With a little more shade and shelter, the flowers in many of the canyons are a week or two behind the roadside flowers and just now coming into their own. Due to the additional shade, they will probably last longer, too. Get an early start and you can also take advantage of the shade as the days get hotter.

Along the backcountry roads, Greenwater Valley is coming into bloom. This should get better and better over the next couple of weeks. Cottonwood Canyon has a wonderful variety of blooms. Rarely seen species such as Death Valley Monkeyflower and Heart-Leaved Evening Primrose have been seen there. Marble Canyon is filled with Turtleback. The Joshua Trees are blooming in Lee Flat. They are the only things blooming there so far, though, and the road is pretty washboarded. In April when the annuals arrive, then this area will be well worth the washboard.

Get out into the park and see for yourself, it’s a great time to be here. Happy flower hunting!

See photos at Wildflower Update Have you ever had a garden,… – Death Valley National Park.