On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Today we have… Poppies! I doubt that satby will be the only one who will be ecstatic seeing all these gorgeous orange flowers. ~WaterGirl
Dmbeaster
Despite a slow rainy season, late season rains were enough for a gorgeous poppy display this year. The poppies grow from both seeds and multiyear tubers, and the tubers can flower well in drier years. The wildflowers that frequently accompany the poppies are more dependent on the rains, and are more muted this year. But the poppy fields were very nice.
The Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve is located in the far western extent of the Mojave Desert, about 20 miles west of Palmdale and Lancaster on the north edge of the Transverse Ranges. The Reserve itself was closed due to the pandemic, but the flowers extended well beyond the Reserve boundaries. These pictures were taken from a dirt road traversing an area a few miles east of the Reserve. But there were views like this throughout the area.
SiubhanDuinne
Gorgeous! I love poppies.
Which autocorrect wanted to turn into “puppies.” Well, I love them too :-)
Baud
So …. sleepy.
low-tech cyclist
Antelope Freeway, one mile.
WaterGirl
Good morning, you two!
edit: posted before low-tech cyclist’s comment showed up.
JPL
@WaterGirl: Thank you for continuing this. It does add a little brightness to the day.
WaterGirl
Is this the long-awaited photo of the Suburu in the field? All this time, I had no idea that it was in a poppy field.
Dan B
Always amazing to see Indian Paintbrush, pink flowers in pictures # 3 and # 4, in low altitude desert since it’s found only in alpine and subalpine meadows in Washington State.
WaterGirl
@JPL: Thank you. I am happy to be continuing Alain’s legacy.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: Since you know what that flower is, do you happen to know what the yellow flowers are? And what kind of poppies these are?
They don’t seem to be the same as the orange oriental poppies that I am familiar with. My poppies never close up like that, unless they do it when I am not looking!
frosty
This was on my list of places to see this spring. Sadly, it didn’t happen. We didn’t get past Arizona on our big western trip.
satby
Oh, now I have to go there! So beautiful, thanks Dmbeaster.
Rob
So nice and colorful on this gray rainy morning.
p.a.
Thanks! Much needed…
Ten Bears
I spent many years ago a good portion of my misspent youth in the Antelope Valley.
This should the permanent memorial.
Fair Economist
How beautiful! I was thinking about going to see the poppies but didn’t do it. Regretting! Thanks for the pics.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Oh my goodness, that’s gorgeous.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Wonderful, My wife and I would love to come out therre and see the wildflower show sometime. Thanks for sharing these.
KateinWhitehead
Look time lurker. I am now a resident in Norn Iron for far too long but these photos remind me of growing up in the high desert with a father obsessed with photographing wildflowers. Thank you for this.
arrieve
@WaterGirl: Those are California poppies, the state flower.
I grew up in California and always loved it when the poppies bloomed, so these pictures are very welcome on a gray New York morning.
Mike in Oly
Such a beautiful sight to start the day with!
cope
Antelope Freeway, one half mile.
Albatrossity
@Dan B: Actually, that flower is in the same genus as Indian Paintrbush (Castilleja), but is Purple Owl’s Clover, a common species in coastal California
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/plants/Orobanchaceae/Castilleja%20exserta.htm
HinTN
Antelope Freeway one quarter mile.
ETA – Thank you for the gorgeous wildflowers. Mrs H and I once drove up the coast from Big Sur when the wildflowers were in bloom. They were hanging off the hillside right next to the passenger window. Oooh la la. The driver got the views to the sea, so it evened out.
Albatrossity
@WaterGirl: I think that the name of the yellow flower is Goldfields. There are several species of this aptly-named plant, but it is probably this one
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Plants%20of%20Upper%20Newport%20Bay%20(Robert%20De%20Ruff)/Asteraceae/Lasthenia%20californica.htm
MelissaM
Lovely!
Erin in Flagstaff
I love that color!
meander
Thanks for the beautiful photos. When I lived in SoCal for 1 year, I made the trek to the poppy preserve. It wasn’t a great year, but still a magical experience and I wish I could go back sometime (maybe next year… OAK–>BUR–>The 5–>The 14–>Lancaster).
California poppies grow like weeds, so they colonize random spaces readily. In the cities on the east side of the S.F. Bay where I live, there are a few road medians that are bursting with the beautiful orange flowers, like Buchanan in Albany, Carlson in El Cerrito/Richmond. I can’t think of any vast superbloom areas in Bay Area parks — the soil isn’t right and there are too many invasive grasses.
@WaterGirl: these poppies are Eschscholzia californica, a plant native to the California and neighboring regions. I do not know enough about botany to know how they connect to more common poppies on the Tree of Life.
WaterGirl
@Albatrossity: The image on the bottom right at your link looks like it might be a distant cousin to the flower I know as liatris.
WaterGirl
@low-tech cyclist: @cope:
I don’t understand the Antelope Freeway comments.
TomatoQueen
@WaterGirl: Antelope Freeway is one of the jillion memes/themes from The Firesign Theatre.
Antelope Valley was my grandpa’s favorite stomping ground for photographs. His and grandma’s ashes are scattered up there (shhhh it’s highly illegal).
Albatrossity
@WaterGirl: It’s from an old Firesign Theater routine.
http://firesigntheatre.com/media/media.php?item=hcyb-rv
WaterGirl
@TomatoQueen: @Albatrossity:
Oh, thank you! I had forgotten all about Firesign Theatre.
Chaz
If we head up this weekend will we still see some good views?
J R in WV
OK, I’ll bite.
Antelope Freeway, 1/128th mile.
=========================
that’s 41.25 feet in case anyone was wondering. Those signs got really close together in the background.
Nice photos of a great wild flower bloom!! Thanks for sending them in for us to see!!
way2blue
Curious. Are your photos taken late in the day—when the poppies have closed up?
Dmbeaster
@Dan B: That is actually named owl’s clover, but is now classified as part of the same genus as the indian paintbrushes. It only grows in California.
Dmbeaster
@WaterGirl: The little yellow ones are goldfields, which are common in the grasslands and deserts of California. These are California poppies, which have a few subtypes. A took pictures of a few yellow ones that were present. There is a coastal variety that shades from orange to yellow. There is also a tiny version of lupine present that grows in the drier areas of California.
Dmbeaster
@Chaz: The poppy reserve has a website and a live cam. Still looks good to me! https://www.parks.ca.gov/live/poppyreserve
Dmbeaster
@way2blue: Late afternoon, and they are closing up for the day.
Chaz
@Dmbeaster: Perfect, thank you!