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Anza Borrego Desert Flower Report March 2015

by surfponto 9. March 2015 22:08

Oasis in a remote corner of the Anza Borrego Desert.

The southern area of Anza Borrego or as I like to call it , "the forgotten side" of Anza Borrego is often overlooked when it comes to desert flower season. Desert flower seekers tend to frequent the well known locales near Borrego Springs and other more accessible areas of the park.

While it is true those areas, can put on a spectacular display, unfortunately you usually get the crowds along with it.

Our preference is to search out the hidden washes and canyons of the south, climbing up boulder littered hillsides and hopping over stands of cholla in an attempt to get that one perfect flower picture.

The downside is that you tend to go home with numerous scratches and cactus spines embedded in your skin while the upside is that you have just spent half a day with nary a soul around .

On our latest trip we were fortunate to find a great selection of both flowers and cactus blooms in the Carrizo Gorge area which you can scroll through below.

Our desert wildflower hunting vehicle
Beautiful Brittlebush in Carrizo Gorge
Lone lupine in the sandy wash
Beavertail Cactus with intense pink blooms

Giving some scale to this desert lupine


Beavertail Bloom with more to come
The ominous looking Hedgehog displaying its' softer side
Beavertail Cactus Blooms
Emory's Rock-Daisy are usually hard to spot due to their small size.
Beavertail Blooom closeup
This Cholla was covered with buds and a few early bloomers. I believe this is called a Gander's Cholla.
Beavertail Blooom
A few Ocotillo were displaying their fiery red tips.
These bees were happy it was flower season
Fishhook Cactus always seem to hide in the shade of another desert plant.
Amazing colors
The lone barrel cactus we saw on our hike in early stages of flowering
Monkey flower that managed to come up through a crack in a bolder
Brilliant yellow flowers of a Brittlebush
I believe this is called Silver Cholla or possibly Gander's Cholla. Nonetheless it was flowering nicely.
I believe this is called Silver Cholla or possibly Gander's Cholla. Nonetheless it was flowering nicely.
Desert Dandelion's along the S2 near Canyon Sin Nombre