If I’d been on the ball realizing the date and the holiday-tomorrow – when it was yesterday – I’d have stopped to take some pix of the budding greasewood. But I never know what day it is, let alone what holiday is near and/or almost upon us, so instead, for some St. Patrick’s Day greenery, enjoy these early(!)-blooming wildflowers that I took pix of late last week:
This is phlox (don’t ask me the specific kind or the scientific name). It’s almost always the very first little wildflower we see every year.
And (they were very near each other) this is a cat’s eye. Not any ol’ cat’s eye but a special kind that may be found only in this relative area of Southwest Colorado. I can’t remember exactly, but BLM range/plant guy Ryan Schroeder has confirmed it with the state BLM plant people. It is *special* and was the cause of great excitement last year when they realized we not only have it in Spring Creek Basin but it’s maybe not as rare-ish as they thought it was. In my wanderings, I see it everywhere, but I’ve also since realized that we have at least a couple of other types of cat’s eyes, too.
There’s just the faintest hint of a super-slight green blush across the basin. … C’mon, March rains!
And happy St. Paddy’s Day to all who celebrate your Irish. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
So nice to see some wildflowers, TJ! I wasn’t sure we’d get any with this drought. Flox are pretty faithful regardless of circumstances – tough little guys. That cat’s eye is cool! It’s a new one for me and it is gorgeous!
These are both super hardy, low-growing little plants. I’m not sure we’ll see the bigger, showier wildflowers this spring. … But I’ll keep ya’ll updated!
Thanks, TJ. Not much hope for Prince’s Plume unless the rains come.
What pretty little flowers!
Aren’t they nifty? It’s always fun to see them, and BLM has been very excited to see the particular cat’s eyes we have. 🙂
Nice!
Thanks!
It’s no Death Valley or Carrizo Plains, but we take what we get and appreciate it all the same. 😉
Lovely desert flowers !
I hope we see more this year. 🙂