#encelia californica

[tiny-glued-things]

Finished my Sonoran Desert diorama!

Had to make a little key to the species found inside.

1. Opuntia engelmannii (prickly pear) 2. Enneapogon desvauxii (nineawn pappusgrass) 3. Fouquieria splendens (ocotillo) 4. Encelia farinosa (brittlebush) 5. Carnegiea gigantea (saguaro) 6. Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana (California poppy) 7. Candelina submexicana (lichen) 8. Acarospora socialis (lichen) 9. Incilius alvarius (Colorado River toad) 10. Leptonycteris yerbabuenae (lesser long nosed bat) 11. Micrathene whitneyi (elf owl)

#miniature #miniatures #tiny things #natural history #diorama #sonoran desert #cactus #natural history museum #mini museum

[anthologiemystika]

Sonoran Desert Plants & Their Magic

Creosote Bush

Larrea tridentata

A.k.a Stinkweed, Chaparral, and Hediondilla

image source

Creosote is a prominent plant in the southwestern portion of North America, it's range includes the Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahuan deserts.

Correspondences

• Element: Water

• Powers: Permanence, longevity, healthy isolation (living alone with a purpose i.e introspection or healing), developing a "tough skin", overcoming challenges, logic, reasoning, order

Mesquite Tree

Prosopis velutina

A.k.a Velvet Mesquite

image source

Velvet Mesquite is found naturally, and plays an important ecological role, in the Sonoran Desert. They grow 20-50 feet in height, or more in well watered areas, less in dry grasslands. The roots far extend the height of the tree, as such Velvet Mesquite can access water sources that are deeper than most plants can reach.

Correspondences

Planet: Saturn

Element: Water, Earth

Powers: Healing, protection, cleansing, purification

Chuparosa

Justica californica

A.k.a Hummingbird Bush

image source

Chuparosa is a flowering bush native to the deserts of Southern California, Arizona, and Northern Mexico. Chuparosa and Chiporosa are both colloquial Spanish terms for "hummingbird". For a short while this shrub produces succulent leaves, it then loses those leaves and grows plentiful tubular flowers. These flowers are generally shades of bright red, but can also be found in shades of yellow. Hummingbirds frequent this low bush to feed on the sweet nectar hidden in the flowers.

Correspondences

Planet: Venus

Powers: Beauty, self-esteem, romance, sexual energy, love, new beginnings, positivity

Brittle Bush

Encelia farinosa

image sorce

Brittle bush is a rather common little shrub found in Northern Mexico, Arizona, Southern California, Nevada, and Utah. It's name comes from the brittleness of the stems. A Spanish name for this plant is "incienso" because the dried sap was burned by the early Spanish missions in the New World as incense.

Correspondences

Planetary: Sun

Element: Earth

Powers: Healing, cleansing, luck, empathy, friendship, protection, banishing sickness

Desert Lavender

Hyptis emoryi

A.k.a Bee Sage or Bushmints

Image source

Desert Lavender is found in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Northwestern Mexico. It is a medium to tall perennial shrub that is favored by honeybees in early spring. The violet-blue flowers are profuse along the main stem and side branches.

Native American tribes like the Akimel O'Odham saw this plant as a "pure and holy plant that cleanses all evils away from one's spirit". It's traditional Native American uses include smudge wands that were burned to cleanse the body of diseases and stop heavy menstruation and internal bleeding.

Correspondences

Element: Earth

Animal: Honeybees

Powers: Spirits, purity, banishing, warding, psychic energy & ability, cleansing, protection

Ephedra

Ephedra fasciculata

A.k.a Mormon Tea or Arizona Ephedra

image source

This plant is found mainly in the Mojave, Colorado, and Sonoran deserts. It thrives in creosote bush scrub. Historically it has been used as an alternative to coffee.

Correspondences

Element: Air

Planet: Earth

Powers: Protection, healing, positive energy, cleansing, friendship, happiness, purity, alertness & focus

Yellow Bells

Tecoma stans

A.k.a Yellow Trumpetbush

image source

Yellow Bells is an attractive ornamental vine native to the Americas, and is the official flower of the United States Virgin Islands. It is hardy in nature and can be grown nearly anywhere, becoming an invasive species in some areas. It's large yellow flowers attract many creatures such as hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

Correspondences

Element: Earth

Powers: Resilience, dominance, strength, healing, cleansing, banishment, cursing, retaliation

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 | Source 4 |

Source 5 | Source 6 | Source 7 | Source 8 | Source 9 | Source 10 |

#KitchPosting #ReginaSolem #Sonoran Desert #Magic #desert witch #desert magic #some is UPG some is traditional information #herbalism #plant magic #UPG #i hope my sources worked...

[crudlynaturephotos]

#california brittlebush #california bush sunflower #encelia californica #flower buds #fuzzy plants #close up nature #wildflowers #colorado lagoon #long beach

[allisondoran]

allisondoran: Spring 2019 Film, 35mm

#spring #flowers #film #35mm #ad #california #bloom #encelia californica #filmsisnotdead #filmsociety #filmsnotdead #thirtyfivefuckingmillimeter

[blackteawaters]

Encelia californica

#VSCO #nature #flowers #encelia californica #sunflower #dayinmylife #bolsa chica #bolsa chica ecological reserve

[andytwoslow]

Encelia californica or California bush sunflower #nofilter #California #OrangeCounty #nativeplants (at Orange County, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CahzLIjJAnU/?utm_medium=tumblr

#nofilter #california #orangecounty #nativeplants

[caliherbalism]

California Fuchsia

• Zauschneria, Epilobium canum, Lady's Eardrops, Hummingbird Flower, Hummingbird Trumpet, Firechalice

• species of willowherb in the evening primrose family

• perennial

• bright red flowers in late summer and fall, may range from pink to orange

• small leaves may be opposite or alternate, lance-shaped or ovate, short or non-existent stalks and range in color from green to nearly white

• originally native to South America

• near coast, found on slopes, bluffs, canyons. inland areas, found in damper slopes and flats, often found by seasonal creeks, part of pine or fir forest

• easy to grow. to be cultivated in well-defined soil exposed to full sun but protected from wind, needs little watering (1x month), plant will self seed. tolerates clay and sand, serpentine soil, PH 6.0-8.0

• no fragrance

• loved by hummingbirds and other birds, butterflies and moths

• companion plants: Milkweed, Giant Wild Rye, Sand Aster, Sagebrush, Monkeyflower, Encelia californica, Penstemon species, Salvia species, Blue-eyed Grass

• represents amiability, anxiety, 'humble love' and 'confiding love'

• "symbolizes a warning" Ellen Dugan, Cottage Witchery: Natural Magik for Hearth and Home (2012, p. 128)

• best planted in hanging basket and enchanted to help protect your home

• "take heed, your beloved is false" Claire Nahmad, Garden Spells: Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers (1994, p. 40)

• associated with faeries, "make good fairy hiding places" Emily, Groweatgift.com

• said to have sprang from the blood of Christ at the foot of the cross. its pendants hangs "its head from sorrow" Harold N. Moldenke, Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World (2003, p. 124)

• flower may represent the Virgin Mary's earrings, Harold N. Moldenke, Medieval Flowers of the Madonna

• to make a "lady" from the flower, remove some of the petals to make a skirt, then some of the stamens so you are left with two legs, Aberdeen (1980s)

• any bride offered fuchsia as an offering on her wedding day would enjoy bounteous blessings, can also be worn in hair

Sources: www.icysedgwick.com/fuchsia-folklore

www.groweatgoft.com/2016/08/folklore-thrusday-flower-faeries/

www.plant-lore.com/fuchsia/

Calscape.org

#california fuchsia #fuchsia #california flora #witchcraft #herbalism #nature

[ag-mcgarity-cali-native-plants]

Encelia californica blooming all over the Central coast. https://www.instagram.com/p/CbfVy91rjGv/?utm_medium=tumblr

[d0ntw0rrybehappy]

california brittlebush (encelia californica - in the daisy family, asteracae)

[alanjs]

A post for a rainy day - California Bush Sunflower (Encelia californica)

#urbanwilderness #wildflowers #sunflower #encelia #nativeplants #canativeplants #keepcalifornialookinglikecalifornia #keepcalookinglikeca #kennethhahnpark #losangeles #california #concretechaparral

#urbanwilderness #wildflowers #sunflowers #encelia #nativeplants #canativeplants #keepcalifornialookinglikecalifornia #keepcalookinglikeca #natureinla #kennethhahnpark #losangeles #california #concretechaparral

[nature-lovers-world-blog]

Encelia californica is a species of flowering plant in the Daisy family known by the common name California brittlebush. It is also commonly referred to as "California bush sunflower..! (at Flowers Home) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvRGs0hA5A3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rfvy85xayieq

[neuroactivity]

(Encelia Californica) (at Rancho Palos Verdes, California)

[crudlynaturephotos]

#sunset #sunbeam #wildflowers #california bush sunflower #brittlebush #encelia californica #ballona wetlands ecological reserve #marina del rey

[nunoxaviermoreira]

Metallic Green Sweat Bee (Agapostemon sp) by J.Thomas.Barnes On a Bush Sunflower (Encelia californica) ID help appreciated! OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA P7150045 https://flic.kr/p/WxkkCJ

#IFTTT #Flickr

[williamsmain]

The Wild Desert Garden

This past spring I witnessed the superbloom in the California deserts. It was a sensation.

Sonoran Desert wildflower superbloom at Anza Borrego California State Park

The superbloom began in late winter in the southern most deserts and progressed northward, a result of ample rain after five years of drought.

I was particularly intrigued, and made two separate visits to the Sonoran Desert east of San Diego in the most southern part of California at Anza Borrego State Park, where the good winter rains brought a spectacle of bloom that, in turn, brought tens of thousands of gawking flower lovers to the desert.

Most folks were drawn to the vast fields of annual wildflowers that carpeted the broad valley floors between mountain ranges, but as a gardener I was attracted to the mix of perennials, shrubs, and cactus that were also having a superbloom.

Natural desert garden – Sonoran Desert at Anza Borrego California State Park

Truly this was Gardening Gone Wild; and there was much for a gardener to learn about how nature combines plants, how she covers the ground, how the natural spacing and heights of plants work in the wild.

Desert landscape of California native plants in early morning, Glorietta Canyon, Anza Borrego State Park

Before I became a garden photographer, and as I came to appreciate native plants, I took photographs that I hoped would inspire gardeners to bring native beauties into their gardens. Now when I photograph the native landscape, I can’t help but see the gardens that nature creates.

I saw gardens everywhere in the Sonoran Desert.

Evening light on the Sonoran Desert – Anza Borrego State Park, superbloom March 22, 2017 with Brittlebush, Ocotillo, and Barrel Cactus

I had never been to the desert for a superbloom and admit to being astonished by the acres of perennials and shrubs that were enjoying a spectacular year along with the annual wild flowers. I felt like the proverbial kid in the candy store, treats everywhere.

I camped on a dirt road away from any trails and at first light just walked into this dream, eyes wide, alert to nature’s plant combinations.

Actually, first light was stunning and I took a few pictures before I ventured out into the desert.

Dawn light – Sonoran Desert at Anza Borrego California State Park

To me, the highest form of garden plant design is the art of a mixed border, where different types of plants are combined to fill the vertical and horizontal spaces with complimentary shapes and colors.  Here is how Mother Nature interprets the mixed border in the desert.

Natural desert garden – Hedgehog Cactus flowering with Desert Chicory, Brown-eyed Primrose Creosote Bush, and Blue Phacelia

Against the background of the tall dark green, yellow flowering Creosote Bush this tapestry of succulent cactus and annual wild flowers would make any desert gardener envious. All that is needed to make this a garden in the real desert is the camera to frame it.

Cactus have become increasingly popular in drought tolerant gardens (anyone noticed Debra Lee Baldwin’s posts here ?), and garden designers often suggest softening their tough spiky look by planting annuals around them. Perhaps as seen here in the wild ?

Desert Agave nestled among Phacelia

As I wandered in the desert looking for photographs I found myself working into the canyons and washes where the rocks provided background and shelter from the bright sun.  The rock formations helped create a sense of intimacy and also provided a bit of scale whereby I could really start to see garden vignettes, contained.

Rock outcrop in Sonoran Desert at Anza Borrego California State Park

As the light streams into a garden a photographer looks for any opportunity to use backlight against a shadowed wall, as I did with these poppies in this sheltered desert canyon.

Eschscholzia parishii, Parish’s Poppy yellow flowering wildflower in Sonoran Desert

The narrow canyons provided great opportunities to see plants with rockwork and the natural erosion that was deposited in the dry washes created soft pathways of the finest crushed rock.

Nature’s desert garden with natural gravel path, perennials, and rock outcrops.

Along these pathways we see borders of flowering perennials spilling out on the paths against the background of the rock walls.

Back in the larger canyons with more flat bottomland I sought out taller plants to frame my compositions, just as a gardener might design with vertical punctuation points to help organize the garden.  These Teddy Bear Cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) bear no resemblance to the little pots we so often see in nurseries.

Cylindropuntia bigelovii, the teddy bear cholla cactus in Sonoran Desert

I particularly began to notice the shrubs as they are the backbone any good garden. While the wildflowers grab attention of the superbloom it was the profusely flowering shrubs that made me see the gardens in the desert.

They, too we’re having a spectacular bloom, and where they grew together I saw the potential for shrub borders. Here, gray foliage Bushmint (Condea emoryi), red flowering Chuparosa (Beloperone californica), the ever present Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), and the durable dark green Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) with its yellow flowers tying everything together create a beautiful, sustainable, drought tolerant, desert garden composition.

Shrub border in Sonoran Desert

Because the Creosote Bush was having its own super bloom I noticed it everywhere. It’s yellow flowers helped it blend easily with the brittlebush that was covering the hillsides with gold.

Here with the Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), one of the signature plants of the desert, we see a wild mixed border.

Creosote Bush with Brittlebush and Ocotillo

The Ocotillo is a prized in many desert gardens; it’s explosion of vertical limbs is graphic and stunning. It’s tough to grow well outside of the desert because it requires hot dry soil with fast drainage.

But of course this is a trick of any naturalistic garden, finding plants that are naturally adapted.  Any of these vignettes I found in the desert would qualify as a garden. All that’s needed to define the garden is to add a bit of human construct to make it look a bit tame and intentional.  Perhaps a fence to claim it ?

Front yard desert garden with rustic split rail fence

I found this “real” garden as I drove through the small town of Borrego Springs, the headquarters of Anza Borrego State Park.  This garden, effortless in Borrego Springs, would be virtually impossible to do and the sprawling cities along the heavily populated, coastal regions of California. Here in this place, the gardener simply embraced the native landscape.

Ocotillo and cactus in Sonoran Desert at Anza Borrego with Coyote Mountain

Learn more on how Anza Borrego got its name on this post I did for PhotoBotanic.

“On March 15, 1774 and December 24, 1775 Juan Bautista de Anza, leading expeditions from Mexico into Alta California, camped in Coyote Canyon in Anza-Borrego State Park – where I too camped my last night of documenting the 2017 superbloom.”

Photo Gallery of Anza Borrego superbloom

  from Gardening Gone Wild http://gardeninggonewild.com/?p=31364