Desert Lily (Hesperocallis undulata)

This lovely flower comes with a story. When I visited Anza Borrego in 2004 I spotted a single desert lily along the road but we were in a hurry to get somewhere else so we marked a waypoint on our GPS with the plan of finding it and stopping to photograph when the light was better. On the way back down canyon I could not find it again. It was as though it had vanished. I did not find another one during that entire visit.

This time we climbed the same wash on our first night in darkness and chose a campsite at random from one of the side washes in the Fish Creek and made camp for the night. In the morning, the first thing to greet my view upon opening the tail gate in the morning was this lovely little garden, feet away from the spot we'd chosen in the dark. And there was this beautiful desert lily, as though waiting for me.

Desert Abloom

We've just witnessed one of the most spectacular desert blooms on history. I couldn't wait to share it with you.

Once we're unpacked and settled, I'll get that gallery work done and share a few more.

This photo was taken at the foot of the Coyote Canyon in Anza Borrego Desert State Park just two mornings ago. While the bloom is at its peak in this spot, there are many many more flowers to come. Different species are getting ready to bloom and the tide is climbing the park's multiple elevations. Just a wee bit higher in this canyon we found the first of the beaver tail cactus blooming with many more cacti in bud.

Miller Ruins Family Session

I have some of the coolest clients.

I got a call last fall from a new client asking if I'd photograph her family in the ruins of the Henry Miller Cattle Barron's turn-of-the-century home in Mt. Madonna County Park. After securing a photography license to shoot in County Parks, I said "Heck, yes, that sounds like fun."

The young girls dressed in romantic lace dresses and I proceeded to send them cavorting not only in the ruins but in the fall grasses. Oh, my, did we ever have to work at getting the grass seeds out of those dresses. No damage done, thankfully. I'm working on a reprint order from the family and am really enjoying looking at this session again.

Beauty in the Mustard

I love this little client. I've been working with her for about a year. She models Strasburg Childrens' clothing for me from time to time. We have a lovely bumper crop of mustard just west of town which I wanted to capture before it fades and disappears.

Miss Alexia joined me for a little session there today. I had envisioned photographing her in the mustard but it was so high that she kept getting lost in it, so we retreated to the charming lane.

Spring Harbinger

Another harbinger of spring. The pretty trillium, a diminutive species, which grows in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park coastside. It's quite different from the larger species which grows at Coe State Park.

Ah, these belly flowers have me laying in the dirt this week.

There is something thrilling about finding this and a few other favorite spring flowers. I think it's because they recall the thrill of hunting for and finding them in my childhood. Trillium grow in Nova Scotia as well as California so this is a spring treasure from long ago.

Maurice Sighting

Maurice is having a grand tour. Not only is he meeting some great people and partying, he's been doing a bit of the tourist thing. Here he is in Providence, Rhode Island visiting the State House.

Spring's Early Pageant

Bruce and I spent quite a bit of time out-of-doors this weekend. We are working on a plant regeneration study as volunteers in Henry W. Coe Park and got up to the Blue Ridge yesterday to visit our study plot. This is just one section of Coe Park which burned in the Lick Fire this past September. In all, the fire affected about 47,000 acres. Notwithstanding, things are coming along. Mother Nature does know what she is doing and the plants are returning.

We have two plots we are watching, both with different plant habitat. One is open mixed woodland and the other is chaparral and manzanita. Of the two, the open woodland has fared best. The fire rushed through there and scorched some trees around their base and others through the crown of the trees. Our mandate is to record the recovery of plants in the vicinity of our plots, being curious as to both what is growing in our plots but also the fate of trees which are still standing after the fire.

We're looking down more than up right now. It's still a few weeks before new growth beings in earnest up there in the trees. Meanwhile, we're studying the plants on the ground.

The earliest spring flowers are beginning to be found both in the fire sites and elsewhere throughout the park. Hounds tongue seems to be doing particularly well in the fire-affected areas.

Anyway, happy early Spring. Here are some wildflower photos from our day out there.

Here are the Hounds Tongue leaves springing up in a burned mixed woodland site. The trees in the background were all damaged to a varying extent during the fire, but here on the ground, grasses and flowering plants are returning.



I couldn't resist photographing these Shooting Stars. They were actually in an area which had not burned.



These Indian Warriors were found along the Hobbs Road, in great numbers. A harbinger of Spring, these plants are found in a community of manzanita, growing happily at their feet. This area was not affected by the fires.



And finally, on our way out of the park, fording the middle fork of the Coyote Creek at Poverty Flat and driving out on the flat beneath this spreading oak, I couldn't resist stopping to photograph the lovely light and scene. The fire was arrested just short of this flat at the toe of the Middle Ridge.