Friday, March 26, 2010

Mexican Poppies and Purple Lupine – Desert Blooms March 2010

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Although not as beautiful as in real life, here are the flower pictures from our last weekend hike. They were everywhere, huge fields of them.

According to the local newspapers, its been an unusual year here…with quite a lot of rain but late in the season. This in turn has created a profusion of delicate flowers. Mexican poppies and lupine are what I believe these are called.

DSCN1150What is amazing is the combination of orange and purple. They are, according to color theory,  compliment colors. If you look at the color wheel below, orange and purple as well as their various shades are directly across from one another.

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It’s very interesting if you think about it. Fun too, since you can create your own color combinations which work amazingly well if you use the color wheel. There is tons of data on color theory all over the web – just a short Google ride and you can be inundated. It can become quite complex, however complimentary colors are one of its easier and more useful concepts. DSCN1157

Lastly, here is an up close shot of some poppies … so delicate. We can’t help but wonder how long they will last.

More flowers to come, we can’t wait to show you those from the saguaro cactus… amazing! And the various colors of the prickly pear… And the amazing peachy shades from the buckhorn cholla.  Please stay tuned!

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As you may have noted, we are trying to “unplug on weekends” since both JD and I are at  computers for hours and hours each day (flat expanding bottoms are not attractive) and the weather is so wonderful here in the desert right now. We intend to make the most of it since, sadly, it will not last for long.

Have a fun weekend everyone!

6 comments:

BALLET NEWS said...

Beautiful ! Have a lovely weekend !

Unknown said...

Thanks Elise! you too.

I enjoy your photos of all the beautiful dancers too. :)

Anonymous said...

I haven't been out in the desert, but I have been in our back yard over-dosing on the heavenly smell of our orange tree, which is in full bloom.

Now, if we could only grow lilacs out here . . .

Unknown said...

Charlie -
We have a few citrus fruits blooming in the yard too.. they do smell wonderful.

Funny thing is we have these wonderful pink grapefruit and lemons - Meyers which aren't the tart sort, we ignored them until John's parents came over and asked us why we didn't eat or use any of them....duh!

I think Lilacs are hard to grow. Even in California they have a hard time. Aren't they a Southern tree, and need the hot humidity?

I think I will do a google :)

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Oh, I so love the colors of wildflowers! It's been awhile since I've driven up to all the places that show these beauties of nature.

Unknown said...

Laurel -
Come soon or wait till October. It will be hotter than Hades soon.

If you do let us know?

Have a wonderful weekend!

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