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Eastern New York Mountains showing about 50% mortality this past year in California junipers. Similar mortality is being observed throughout the desert southwest highlands, likely the result of the 2-year extreme dry spell (2021-22), enhanced by climate warming over past decades. Apparently last summer's big monsoon and this winter's rains came a little too late.

Photos from one patch of especially dense growth, but they were scattered all around the area east of the pseudo vernal pool in this fallow ag type area. This was the thickest patch where cover as pictured was spread over a 25 m long edge of a swale.

A Superbloom in Pebble Beach, July 2018!

Pink Sand Verbena (Abronia umbellata) Native, coastal, common dune plant. Erect, dark green, fleshy leaves are paddle-shaped and and borne on prostrate stems. Flowers are dome shaped heads of 12-15 pink corollas with white centers surrounding pinhole throats. Peak bloom time: all year.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 98.

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 210-211.

https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11564

Found this hidden gem thru a tip on a wildflower hotline site. Not sure exactly where it was -- somewhere near the Poppy Reserve, but south of the main road down in a little hollow nestled up against the foothills. Have been poring over Google Maps trying to find an arroyo & Joshua trees that match, but no luck.

Found this hidden gem thru a tip on a wildflower hotline site. Not sure exactly where it was -- somewhere near the Poppy Reserve, but south of the main road down in a little hollow nestled up against the foothills. Have been poring over Google Maps trying to find an arroyo & Joshua trees that match, but no luck.

2003 was a spectacular year for the hills around Gorman, CA (I5, the main highway connecting northern & southern CA, goes right thru this pass). This mix contains at least 5 species in bloom: the tall blue flowers are Valley Lupine (Lupinus microcarpus), the little round light blue ones are Bluehead Gilia (Gilia capitata), the yellow daisy-like ones are Coreopsis, the little yellow coils are Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii), & the orange is CA Poppy (Eschscholzia californica).