Wildflower Hunt @ Blue Sky Ecological Reserve to Mt Woodson

Matilija Poppy, Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

As the carpet of wildflowers disappear on the hills by this time of the year, it is time now to simply hunt for wildflowers and enjoy them individually. It is actually as fun as seeing the carpet of wildflowers last March. The lack of wildflowers on the hills and valleys is exchanged now by the variety of flowers sharing the glory in the trail. Yesterday, we took the trail from Blue Sky Ecological Reserve to Mt Woodson ( please click here to learn about the mileage, elevation gain and direction ).

Matilija Poppy

The very first wildflower that greeted me was the Matilija Poppy that I saw near the parking lot. Notice the very low clouds hugging the hills, it has been that gray here in San Diego since last week. May and June are San Diego's gloomiest months, locally known as May Gray and June Gloom :( .

There were actually a lot of other wildflowers I saw, however, it was hard for me to take them a picture since they were not near the trail. Considering we are a rattlesnake country ( thankfully, I never had seen any rattlesnakes in any of our hikes), we always take precaution to not go off trail, and also, to allow plants to rehabilitate and grow. The next wildflower that caught my eye are these tall violet stalks, sadly, I do not know the name.

Flowering Sage, Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

Inside the reserve, along the creekside, there were a lot of bush mallows lining the trail.

Bush Mallow

These wildflower is found almost in the entire length of the hike, from Blue Sky to Lake Poway to Mt Woodson. Then, there are also California Everlasting scattered everywhere, also in the entire length of the hike.

California Everlasting

These wildflowers now replaced in terms of number the explosion of CA popies and other wildflowers which had an earlier bloom.

California Everlasting inside Oak Woodland

Then, a bonus for me, a wild rose inside the woodland. Bonus, since my favorite color is pink and I love rose :) and especially if it is wild.

California Wildrose

These pink wildrose alternates with the Hooker's primrose in the trail. They grow very tall.

Hooker's Primrose

Then, saw this lovely violet flower, which Anonymous pointed out to be Penstemon :)

Penstemon

Continuing from Blue Sky to Lake Poway, though the hills are less colorful now, but I am seeing some wildflowers I have not seen last March. I did not see any lupines anymore in the trail actually. But what replaces the lupines are these red wildflowers, which are really everywhere in the hillsides.

Fringed Indian Pink

There are still some California poppies thriving in the trail,

California Poppies

but there are now very few of them, compared with these yellow ones.

Weed's Mariposa Lily

Weed's Mariposa Lily (2)

Golden Yarrow

There were also more purple poppies than the CA poppies now, however, I found out that the name of these purple poppies are actually lilac mariposa lily.

Lilac Mariposa Lily ( thought they were purple poppies)

It is nice to see these late bloomers in the trail, it is nice to learn how these plants naturally take turns to add life to the hillsides. What joy I had when I saw a lone blue canterbury bell in the trail,

Blue Canterbury Bell, Mt Woodson Trail

because I did not expect to see this wildflower anymore since like the lupines and CA poppies, they are the early bloomers. Last March, the blue canterbury bell and the CA poppies share the glory in the hills, in terms of numbers.

Blue Canterbury Bells, Lake Poway Trail, March 2009

While yesterday, from Blue Sky to Lake Poway, I did not see any canterbury bells at all. It was only on our way up to Mt Woodson that I saw a lone canterbury bell peeking against the dry stalks and leaves, it was such a joy to see a single one still thriving. The hills now are more of brown, with most of the CA poppies, canterbury bells and lupines gone. They are now made more alive by the taller weeds, which looked more like a jungle of weeds dotted with their cute little flowers.

Mix of Tall Weeds with their cute little Flowers, Mt Woodson Trail

The mix of wildflowers above includes the bush monkey flower,

Bush Monkey Flower, Mt Woodson Trail

California asters,

California Aster

bull thistle,

Bull Thistle

and those red and yellow wildflowers above which I still have to find their names. While along the lake, some parts of the trail are lined with sunflowers,

Canyon Sunflowers, Lake Poway Trail

or with yellow mustards and other yellow blooms.

Mustards, Lake Poway Trail

It is still very gray here in San Diego right now,

May Gray and June Gloom

but thanks to these wildflowers and trees, that gives a promise of a blue sky to come.

PS...Thanks to Anynymous for helping me name some of the wildflowers here.

♥♥