By Craig Martin
That question comes in every day and the answer is: anywhere! It is a rather spectacular spring with large numbers of many species that are usually common, but not this common. Like Big Golden Pea in huge patches on the Perimeter, Water Canyon, Dot Grant trails, anywhere in pine forest. Same with Wooten and New Mexico groundsels.
But, of course, my favorite is White Rock Canyon. I’ve recorded 91 species in bloom in the canyon and along the rim in the last week. It’s worth a walk along the rim trail, and even more rewarding along the Blue Dot and Red Dot trails, as well as the River Trail. Penstemons, fleabanes, Chocolate flowers like I’ve never seen, milkvetches covering the sand flats, Spiderworts and Sand Lupines by the thousands.
Go check it out if you can! If you can’t (it’s a busy week in Los Alamos, I know) enjoy a few of my latest photos:
Get out there and enjoy the chance to catch a peak bloom like this one. Who knows what the next few years will bring–but we’ll be watching.
Late snows and spring rains have collaborated to first promote plant growth and then flowers.
The is a profusion out there. A treat for the eye
An easy way to see some of it is lower Quemazom trail behind the Western Area
Scads of yellow flowers divided among perky sue, several senecios, and golden pea with a little mountain parsley thrown in. Brilliant scarlet paintbrush interspersed with little white fleabanes that sometimes blanket the ground.
The shrubs are still in bud but choke cherry is in full bloom.
Enjoy
Awesome to know this is a peak bloom season! I’m glad we can access the WR Rim trail from our house- we’ll get out there this weekend! Thanks for the info, Craig!