San Diego County Native Wildflowers~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS

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Argemone or Prickly Poppy
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Elfin Mariposal Lily
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California Coastal Sunflower
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Wild Artichoke. These were miniatures though which were new to me!
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Here is some more of the striking Prickly Poppies.
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I had never seen these before. They resemble small Matilija Poppies.
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They are so beautiful and were blanketing the coastal mountains that had burned in prior years.
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I am looking in to planting some at The Holler.
Cheers to you from these most cheerful native San Diego wildflowers!

178 thoughts on “San Diego County Native Wildflowers~”

  1. Absotively gorgeous. We have nothing like these around here so it is good to be shown these very different flowers. I am always awed by your incredible talent and eye.

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      1. Being completely reliant on mother nature in order to survive, makes them pretty special, and we get to enjoy them in all their magnificent glory!

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    1. Yes. We spend so much time nuturing non-native “exotics!” I grow lots of natives but need to do more and I am going to try and get some of these prickly poppies. I love them. Cheers to you my friend & thanks as always!

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  4. Those prickly poppies were stunning in their native habitat…as if they thrive in rough areas without competition. I’d be interested to know how you get on with them…and another excuse to see super photographs of them in a year or so’s time!

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    1. Yes that is it exactly it I suspect. The prior fire cleared the way for the poppies and provided nutrients and they took off. I was struck by their fragile beauty and tough hardiness. I will definitely post some photos next year if I suceed in transplanting them! It would seem that they should do well at The Holler~

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  12. I’m close but not close enough – somewhere in Union City. I did take some flower photos….
    But I left my adapter thingy at home and my camera card doesn’t just plug in to my PC.
    So maybe when I get home and get help I can e-mail you some. Maybe you’ll be able to tell me what they are 🙂

    Thanks for visiting my Flash Fiction and other stories. I pull ’em out of thin air. At least that one anyway.

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    1. They do look remarkably the same! Beautidul cistes! The leaves and prickles are different and the popplies are strangely flat with the centers rising up similar to matilijas. I was taken by them and their prickles!!! You have a wonderful week my friend and thank you for sharing these lovely cistes!

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    1. Yes they are! I can’t help but know they are there for us to find, and to make us happy! These were on a very isolated high mountain top, blooming as far as the eye could see. They amazed us! We had never seen these flowers~

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      1. 🙂 Unfortunately I am so busy at the moment. I am glad I decided to do the Photo of the Week this year instead of the Photo of the Day

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  25. Wow! Cindy. Pure magic. Those Prickly Poppies are beautiful flowers – so wild and robust yet so eye-catching. Love you images.

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  30. a flower feast thanks Cindy, even though I am still in the northern hemisphere I have not seen anything so lovely since we were in Ronda a month ago 🙂

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  31. With all of the amazing textures in these photos, I feel like I’m right there with you. It’s so nice to see the world and its parts through your perspective.

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  36. Wild flowers are fascinating, aren’t they Cindy? They’re like the average woman who is not pursuing a career in entertainment or modeling — beautiful in their own rough yet delicate way.

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  38. Absolutely beautifully captured! The essence of beauty lies within the eyes of the beholder truly! and yet flowers stay still in humble beauty!

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    1. There were no visitors on these mountain tops when we were there. Imagine the flowers blooming just for themselves with no one to see. That is beauty to me!

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  42. Cindy, I admired your photo shot, beautiful. Love the petals and colors. They’re really FABULOUS flowers. I like your technique – used the sun lichting- Fantastic! Thanks a lot for your wondeful clicking. Regards @Della

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  49. Just wildflowers!!! Girl there is nothing…..J.U.S.T. about your photography!! Your pics are like magical portals to strange places and alien things!!!! These are sick, Cindy!! And it just so happens…that poppies are my favorite, (as you know one of our book covers sports one!!) and I had never known that there we’re white ones!!! Luv this and sharing it now!!! xoxo <3

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    1. I love you two!! Such an awesome creative duo and such excellent blogging friends. Hugz to you both and tons of gratitude for you!! Plus hands down you find the most interesting people to showcase on your blog which is so very kind of you. You rock!! <3 <3

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  58. 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 :-)))

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  60. 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.

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      1. 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!

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  64. europasicewolf

    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 😉

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  65. 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

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    1. 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~

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  70. 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].

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    1. 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~

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  73. 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.

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    1. 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~

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  74. 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!

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  76. 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. 🙂

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    1. 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~

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  78. 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!

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    1. 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~

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