California Poppy – Native Plant of the Day 06/24/2023
Photo from 06/17/2010. Location: Payette River Valley, Boise County, ID.
More photos / info at the Eschscholzia californica detail page.
California Poppy – Eschscholzia californica
Also NPOD 02/01/2011, 07/01/2011, 02/01/2012, 06/27/2012, 06/27/2013, 06/27/2014, 06/27/2015, 06/27/2016, 06/24/2017, 06/24/2018, 06/24/2019, 06/24/2020, 06/24/2021, 06/24/2022
Those colors are yummy!
So beautiful!
Marvelous photo! Yes, those California poppies are luminous.
My sister lives in the high desert, Lancaster, CA, home of Joshua trees and the state reserve of the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. For the past few years, I and my sisters have met there at Easter and hoped to see the famous, wild display of poppies, but we were disappointed by scattered blooms.
Heavy winter rains this year (2019) woke up the poppies! Broad swathes of psychedelic orange lit up the fields and hillsides. As we first neared the wild fields, visible beyond the familiar housing developments, my sister thought someone had sprayed them with Agent Orange! My friend thought it must be the orange tiled roofs of houses. I guessed, harboring disbelief… could these brilliant bands of orange paint actually be created by masses of individual little flowers, the famous poppy blooms?
The phenomenon pulled cars right and left off the roadside, as people immersed themselves in the incredible neon orange poppy magic.
I love your photos and descriptions and consult them regularly.
Thanks for your kind comments.
I saw the poppy blooms on TV – magnificent!