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These pictures were taken yesterday in Indian Wells Valley Canyon about 20 miles west of my home. It was a windy morning but that didn’t stop me from getting out and exploring the wildflower display so close to home. This was my first experience with a digital camera. Oh, My, what fun! Now I have another oppression to contend with.

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This is one of my favorite pictures. Part of the Joshua tree has fallen down but it still lives. It’s a strange tree with it’s dagger-like leaves that don’t offer much shade. It’s a member of the Agaves family and is dependent on the yucca moth for pollination. These trees can only be found in North America, in the states of California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada but are mostly contained in the Mojave Desert. I live on the northwest rim of the Mojave Desert.

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Here is one in bloom. I’m guessing this tree sprung up from a rhizome of another Joshua tree since they will not flower before they are mature and this tree looks young, not more than 5 ft high. These trees do not branch out until they bloom and they don’t bloom every year.

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This is a Desert Paintbrush. There were small patches of them dotting the landscape but not so easy to see. They’re often under or within other plants. They can grow up to 16 inches high. These were about 5 inches, making them hard to spot if just driving by.

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I love this picture. You can see the movement of the wind in clouds trying to maintain a form as they stretch to the winds demands. The wildflowers, Joshua trees, green sage, and the snow caped mountains against a clear blue sky makes for a picturesque landscape.

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I’m not sure what the small lavender wildflowers are called but they intrigued me. They sprang up in areas where water ran after a hard rain. So it looked like streams of lavender. Very beautiful. I wish I had gotten a close-up of the flowers but some of the photos didn’t take. I think the batteries were low and I’m still learning how to use the camera.

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This is a Cholla cactus and not something you want to get too close to. From a distance it looks like it’s covered in spider webs but its actually small spikes that can hurt! This cactus can bloom and bare fruit but it might still be a bit too early.

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I don’t know the name of these wildflowers either but they were very small and mingled within other plants.

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This shows the valley I live in. Well, it should show it but Owens Lake (a very dry lake thanks to LA) was blown in over-night, leaving the hazy ruminates of tiny sand particles floating in the air. Anyway, if you could follow the dirt road in the distance, you’d end up in my desert valley.

This was my first adventure with a digital camera. After doing this post I now know that I need to incorporate an image plugin. It just took too long to do it all manually. I’ve looked at a few but haven’t decided what I want to go with. I probably should finish getting this blog updated to WP 1.5 before adding anything else. I’ve just been too busy with other online development. I hope to get to it soon.