Friday, March 14, 2008

Mexican Gold Poppies near Kitt Peak

On Wednesday, we drove out to Topawa (10 miles south of Sells) to visit the new Tohono O'odham Cultural Center and Museum. On the way, we stopped near the Kitt Peak turnoff to photograph Mexican Gold Poppies (Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana) that were clustered by the roadside. We had hoped to find a large field of wildflowers there, as we had several years ago after a very wet winter, but that field had no flowers at all.



In this photo, you can just see some of the telescopes of Kitt Peak National Observatory. The most prominent dome houses the 4 meter (158-inch) Mayall telescope. It is 18 stories high. On clear days (which are most days in our area), I can see the dome from our main road, over 65 miles away. 

2 comments:

Lené Gary said...

Pam, thank you for linking to your blooming landscape. Just the sight of bare ground warms me. The poppies are amazing, and that open sky--that open world of the west I've forgotten. How expansive it feels in contrast to the clustered lumps one can never quite feel the top of in New England. :)

Happy Spring

Clare said...

An outstanding, beautiful flower.