Natural History Wanderings

The Death Valley National Park Facebook page has its weekly wildflower report for 3/20/15

The mid-elevations are the place to go for flowers this week. Dante’s View Road is looking very nice, especially above the trailer parking. Daylight Pass Road is getting some fine areas between Hell’s Gate and Daylight Pass. Golden Evening Primrose, Pincushion, Chicory and Encelia are predominant, but keep a sharp lookout for the reds of Paintbrush and the orange of Desert Globemallow. The Beavertail Cactus have started to bloom. A good place to look for them is on the Badwater Road between Ashford Mill and Salsbury Pass. There are some good belly flowers where the Brittlebush is blooming between Jubilee and Salsbury Passes. Get out and walk around a little! Encelia, Phacelia, and Globemallow are decorating the road up to Scotty’s Castle. The west side of the park is still looking good along Highway 190 between Towne’s Pass and Father Crowley Lookout. Rock Nettle and Death Valley Sage are blooming in the canyons.

If you have a high clearance vehicle, Greenwater Road is just delightful. Yellow is the main color theme, with accents of white, cream, pink and purple. Get out and take a closer look every few miles, as the yellow changes from Desert Gold Poppy to Desert Dandelion to Blazing Star to Fiddleneck to Coreopsis to Golden Evening Primrose and back again, an infinite palette of differing hues. Hot spot of the week, though, is reserved for those lucky enough to have access to a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Gold Valley!!! Ever wonder how it got the name? This is the week to find out. Unbelievable displays of coreopsis, also known as Bigelow’s Tickseed await you.

Although there are still some good patches of desert gold and gravel ghost is just about everywhere, the bloom at the lower elevation roadside flowers is just about done. The very hot weather we have continued to have (99°F on Monday) has just fried them. Hiking the canyons, like last week, are still the best bet for good flowers in the lower elevations. Get an early start, it is hot out there!

See photos at (1) Death Valley National Park.