Calendar Flowers - Playing Catch-up!

Sometimes “life” gets in the way. I haven’t managed to do a monthly Nature Musings post on our 2022 Calendar Wildflowers since March! I’m going to touch on April through July to catch you up. Enjoy!

April - The Pink Mallow, Sidalcea, grows in grassy, coastal areas from Oregon - California. A spring bloomer, the flowers line a stalk similar to a Hollyhock, with flowers opening with morning light and furling close at dusk. It is a heavy pollinator, attracting many bees.

I love the dreamy pinks in this image - like sunset clouds floating - so I created a new scarf design. Take a look!

Blue Flax, Linum lewisii, happily grows in about 3/4 of the United States, most probably because it has a high tolerance for drought conditions/dry soil. George loved this “common” little flower and the illusiveness of capturing its striking blue sheen.

A carpet of Lewis’s Monkey Flower, Erythanthe (Mimulus)lewisii, will dazzle the eye on creek banks and in meadows in the High Sierras, in July and August! Their deep pink to red blossoms are a great attraction to humingbirds.

Native to the Southwest United States and Mexico, this succulent plant has an incredible survival strategy! The arms of the plant can fall off and take root wherever they land. Their nickname is the “jumping cholla” as they detach from the main body of the plant and tenaciously stick to the animal (or human) that has touched them - Ouch!

Chollas are a safe haven for nesting birds, as coyotes and other preditors don’t want to go near the nest!