Picacho Peak

Picacho Peak State Park is about 40 miles north of Tucson. We were hoping to see California Poppies in bloom there, but the weather had been too warm, and most of them had finished blooming. There were still some poppies in gullies that were protected from the sun. We did see many other wildflowers – especially Brittlebush, which was in full bloom.

Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)

Brittlebush flowers

We walked up a path that eventually wound its way up to the peak, but we wandered so slowly, looking at birds and trying out our new cameras on the flowers, that we didn’t get even close to the top.

The path

California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica )

Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)

Lichens on the rocks

Lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus)

Mike with his new camera

Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii )

Miniature Woollystar (Eriastrum diffusum)

Wild Heliotrope (Phacelia crenulata)

Wild Heliotrope

Wild Heliotrope (I love the brilliant purple color of the flowers)

Desert view

I had help identifying these plants from T. Beth Kinsey, who has a web site of wildflowers found in Arizona. She also writes a blog, illustrated with her beautiful photos, about wildflowers, birds and insects from the Tucson area.