In April 2019 having lived in the Los Angeles area for over a decade I finally made the drive to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. We had a ‘superbloom’ in the spring of 2019 so there were photos all over the news & social media.
Seeing it in person was an entirely different thing. the poppy fields in bloom are a landscape like nothing else I have ever seen.
Poppies & Creamcups Owls clover, Goldenfields Closer shot of the Owls Clover bloom Owls clover & Goldenfields Lacy Phacelia Poppies & bluedicks. One cream colored poppy Poppies. Never did figure out what this flower was POPPIES. Lupine OMG POPPIES. Also there is a lark of some kind on that shrub. Pygmy leaved lupine Nate amidst the poppies. Pygmy Leaved Lupine Douglas Locoweed Douglas Locoweed blossom Orange horizon Poppies & fiddlenecks Little desert wildlife Poppies, Fiddleneck, Lupine ants ants ants Ground level view
The wild poppies really are that orange. Brilliant, glowing, orange. I grow some in my front yard, having a partially native CA garden. They are very nice but they are pale in comparison to the wild ones at the preserve.
I’ll probably edit this entry & lay these out with a gallery plugin of some kind so they’re easier to look at but this is much easier to just get them online for now.

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