When we first moved out to Cochise County we were so lucky to have a few springs with abundant Mexican poppy (Eschscholzia mexicana) displays. Distant hills and nearby fields glowed golden with a kazillion blooming poppies. Over the years, dry winters made those floriferous springs less common, but in 2020 there was an incredible wildflower display all around us. I remember standing out in some rolling hills at the base of the Pinaleño Mountains and shouting out plant names…well, at least the ones I could remember… it was that day we saw creamcups (or cream cups, your choice) in the wildflower mix. We even came across some pure stands of Platystemon californicus. Yay! 
Oh for goodness sake, I forgot to mention that creamcups’ flowers are white, but the photos show that! Now you know.
Anyway, here’s hoping we get a floriferous spring thanks to winter rain and snow.
The photos are mine.
Petey is excited about old pack rat middens and talks about our local pack rat species, Neotoma albigula.
Our one flowering wildflower on this wonderful day was the pretty perennial called penny cress or candy tufts. It is the former Thlaspi fendleri,...
The villain in this show is the grass Enneapogon cenchroides or soft feather pappus grass. There are many invasive exotic grasses that have changed...