Wild UCI

So many things are blooming at this time of year, or were, before the furnace that came through last week.  Her are some photos from wild areas of UC Irvine in the last couple weeks.

A field of Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum I believe)  Sadly, they are all baked in the heat.  Here's what they look like up close.

Wild cucumbers (Marah macrocarpa, not edible!) festooned across a prickly pear:

There are several varieties of Prickly Pear (Opuntia) along the coast.  UCI's has most delicate peach buds; the yellow flowers are not here yet:

A few Deerweed (Acmispon glaber, formerly Lotus scoparius) are blooming early.  It is a pretty plant; I wish it had a nicer common name:

Bladderpod was in full bloom the beginning of February (and many other times.)  It is a good garden candidate.  This five-foot-tall Bladderpod (Peritoma arborea, formerly Isomeris arborea) has quite a view going.

Fiddlenecks (Amsinckia) were blooming in little patches together.

Mule fat has kinda nice little white flowers and is green, but otherwise is not much to look at.

Mule fat flowers up close

Mule fat with a background of invasive tumbleweed (sigh).

Coast Sunflowers (Encelia californica) are all over UCI.  Most of them probably seeded from slope plantings facing Bonita Canyon Road, but I'm not complaining.  This one overlooks the UCI industrial park.

If there is a little patch of wild in your SoCal neighborhood, this is the season to check it out.

Sometimes the wild comes to us!
This bobcat family napped on our garden wall back in 2007.

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