Argemone or Prickly Poppy
Elfin Mariposal Lily
California Coastal Sunflower
Wild Artichoke. These were miniatures though which were new to me!
Here is some more of the striking Prickly Poppies.
I had never seen these before. They resemble small Matilija Poppies.
They are so beautiful and were blanketing the coastal mountains that had burned in prior years.
I am looking in to planting some at The Holler.
Cheers to you from these most cheerful native San Diego wildflowers!
Love those white prickly poppies.
Don’t you love the name, prickly poppy!! It brings up lots of imagery for me! You are such an amazing writer! Cheers to you~
Thanks again. I do like the name “prickly poppy,” although in my mind I always want to say “prickly pear . . .”
Yes a tad confusing!
I haven’t seen anything like the second photo. Wow!
That was exactly my reaction when I saw it! Was just reading your fascinating post about The Maldives etc., So interesting!!
These make mine pale into sickly insignificance, Cindy 🙂 Your photography is stunning! 🙂
Awwwww, you are very kind and it is most appreciated! ❤
fabulous flowers Cindy. thanks for sharing.
Thank you for appreciating & cheers my friend~
Beauty in the lens of the beholder and beheld here too!
So thoughtful and appreciated!!
thanx-gracias, Cindy! I loved and I often miss San Diego and its flowers… cheers, Mélanie
We have such a variety in the coastal mountains and down into the desert! I can imagine your might well miss this!
That Prickly Poppie is a phenomenal shot!! What a beautiful photo!
Very thoughtful of you to say! It is a particularly fascinating flower~
Superb detailed floral portraits,dear Cindy ! I particularly love the indigenous plants and I always try to spot the very special properties of the surrounding area that make them flourish ! Great subject,my friend !!! Doda :-)))
We are kindred spirits Doda, as I do just the same!! Cheers & thanks my friend~
GORGEOUS! When are you going to start selling postcards?
Hi Wendy! Hmmmmmm, do people send those anymore???? I think it’s all instagram, selfies and emailing photos!
Too beautiful, Cindy. Elfin Mariposal Lily is new to me, what a fantastic shot! I have seen a lot of Wild Artichokes here, but I did not know the name of this beautiful wildflower.
Neither did I Amy. Several were actually new to me, which is always great fun. Cheers to you my friend~
Thank you for opening our eyes via your lens and words. It indeed has taught me to learn to love nature and enjoy its beauty. I’m truly honored to be your friend, Cindy!
The feeling is completely mutual Amy! Hugz & gratitude for you!
Very beautiful Cindy!
Merci beaucoup!
Indeed, how could such grandeur be wild? This ultimately beautiful, Ms. Cindy! Thank you. 😊
Thank you for the very thoughtful comment!
Beautiful flowers. I lik the way you’ve captured their magic! 🙂
Welcome & so happy you do!! Cheers~
Just misread the striking bit of prickly poppies…my eyeballs saw it as stinking prickly poppies!! lol was just thinking how rude that was till the brain cell caught on! Oops 😉
I can easily imagine someone calling them this is they got poked by one of their prickles!!! 😉
I wondered if they get prickly pear preserves from the prickly poppy? I remembered going to Arizona, where my grandparents lived (after Florida) and eating this delicious jelly. Anyway, Cindy, you make the photographs look like paintings! You are excellent at taking the close ups! I always seem to get shadows or some kind of imperfections! I loved the fact you tell us their names, too! I think you should get the poppies for your Holler! Smiles, Robin
I think they get the jelly form Prickly Pear Cactus and I know they eat it in many different in Arizona. Your comments are very thoughtful Robin and most appreciated~
Nice selection. Might look good at the holler.
Yes and tough enough to survive out here too!!
Fantastic images!
Merci beaucoup mon ami!
These flowers are wildly beautiful…and so independent (they don’t rely on landscapers).
Yes, this independence is what makes them so beguiling!!
Great collection of flower photos – so sharp they catch al the beauty
Thank you and very pleased that you think so!
Oh yes, I always loved the mountains and vast meadow sweeps in Monterey County as I drove home from work in the spring. After the winter rains (back when there was such a thing) the mountains and valleys would be covered with the California poppy as far as the eye could see. A little later in the season, a blue wildflower would mix in when the blue flowers started pushing through. I’m not sure which 1st Lady it was that said she intended for the highway 68 between Monterey and Salinas to be the best preserved of all wildflowers and while we were living there, it was indeed a masterpiece of a show. [The best part of it – our home was right in the middle of it all].
Well Lucy Bird Johnson was the the wildflower first lady. She took it upon herself to cover as much of the US as she could with wildflowers. Monterey is just impossibly beautiful and covered with wildflowers it must have been phenomonal! Hugz to you Sheri~
It was (and is) an incredible place to live. If it weren’t for the special fit Tom has with his psychiatrist, we’d be there in a heartbeat. We both loved the area and miss it a great deal.
Wonderful photos and reminders of the beauty in looking closely. 🙂
Very thoughtful and most appreciated!
You’re welcome Cindy
Fantastic photos! How do you get such large, clear, sharp photos?
Really happy you enjoyed my friend! I give all the credit to my sony HX300!!!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
I was reading an article this week which showed perfectly beautiful young women undergoing cosmetic surgery for perceived imperctions. I look at these amazing flowers and they have odd bits too, thorny seed pods, black speckles, leggy barbed stems, but they are still very beautiful and each of those allegedly unsightly parts have a very distinct purpose. I agree that there may be circumstances where surgery might be necessary but these young women had no need to second guess nature.
Oh I so love this comment. True beauty contains natures imperfections and these imperfections are what capture and hold our interest. All this self surgery is self abnegation, reducing oneself to a object with mass appeal. It is destruction of individuality and it makes me sad. Thank you for your perceptiveness~
Well thank you for the catalyst. Have a great weekend Cindy.
Visa versa 2 U X 2!
the colors are divine…i love exquisite beauty of wildflowers…especially the way they never seem to falter due to weather changes during their life’s season! Cindy…your posts are always rich in natures rich beauty…always a pleasure and delight to embrace…have a wonderful weekend!
You are a good person Wendell and I am honored by your thoughtful comment~
Cindy: Your photos are so beautiful that I’ve run out of superlatives to respond with! Wishing you a happy weekend.
Let’s thank Mother Nature for giving us the beauty of the natural world! I just make copies of her creation~
can U eat those lil chokes I wonder?
‘Love the wildflowers. I once planted a teeny tiny meadow in a teeny tiny enclosure outside our old apartment–fond memories, and of course–the mountains for real. 🙂
I had never seen these little chokes before so I have no idea if they are edible, but I would guess they are mostly thistle. I wish I could have seen your tiny meadow. It sounds beautiful~
I love the yellow poppy, not seen one like that before. The spiky inside reminds me a little of a Venus Flytrap plant! 🙂
Yes it looked to me like a carnivorous flower too!! Thanks for noticing~
Hi Cuz,
FInally getting around to looking at this one. I love wildflowers…, in the meadows, in the mountains, in the woods, in a pond, along a brook…, just anywhere and all of them. Funny, that wild artichoke blossom very strongly resembles one of its cousins – the Canadian Thistle. I was forever cutting thistles out of the pastures and cornfields as a boy on the farm. Had never seen a Prickly Poppy. They have a simple beauty about them. Hugs!
Your lead in reminded me instantly of of Theodore Geisel’s Green Eggs and Ham, “I do not like them”…”in the rain. Not in the dark. Not on a train. Not is a car. Not in a tree…..I do not like them anywhere!”
Did I tell you he lived near me when I was growing up and I jumped his fence with a friend to try and meet him?
Didn’t work of course. Never saw him.
You words are a “like” version of Geisels, which is no surprise because you are a poet cuz~
Oh, these ‘flowers’ are beautiful, exactly the way God intended them to be.
Yes! Spiritual messengers!
What amazing photos of beautiful flowers, I particularly liked the Elfin Mariposal Lily.
Thank you. It was the first time I saw it and I was quite taken by it too!
one of my cousin live in Sandi ego
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