Spring Flowers

I've really been having fun photographing flowers this spring. They have been about two weeks behind last year, but I figure that's just given me more time to get my bootie in gear and get outside ready to discover them.

In honor of all the spring beauty, I've restarted my A Plant a Day blog, which features plants in this area. Here's a sampling of flowers I have on the blog, but rephotographed this spring because I couldn't resist. If you like plants, be sure to check out the other blog!
The brilliant orange gooseberryleaf globemallow (Sphaeralcea grossularifolia) really lights up the desert floor. This is a plant I have in my native flower garden because I like it so much.

This beautiful tiny daisy is only a few inches tall. It's called spreading fleabane (Erigeron divergens), a rather funny name for such a cute flower.

I just saw this Nevada Onion (Allium nevadense) yesterday. It doesn't grow very tall, but the small balls of flowers are a nice splash of color in the gravelly soils.

I found this bright yellow flower on a rocky outcrop. It's called nakedstem sunray (Enceliopsis nudicaulis) due to the leafless stems.

This beautiful flower that lies close to the ground flowers at night, so you can see it at it's best very early in the morning. It's called tufted-evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa).

This splashy yellow flower with the lobed leaves is lobeleaf groundsel (Packera multilobata), which goes by many other names you can see if you click on the link.

I also saw this beautiful deep blue flower for the first time this year yesterday. The palmately divided leaves look intriguing, and the flowers are amazing. This is Anderson's larkspur (Delphinium andersonii), a member of the Buttercup Family.

I like the flower so much that I couldn't resist a closeup.

And last but not least for today, here's some desert Indian paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia). It usually grows close to sagebrush, and the bright red bracts really light up the landscape.

Hope you're having fun looking at wild flowers where you live!