Sego Lily

Top photo is my entry into the #wiwcontest hosted by @dmcamera.


Driving home from the hot spring the other night we passed a field full of sego lilies in bloom. Most desert flowers tend to be small. They try to hide behind the sparse grasses in the desert to keep from being cooked by the relentless summer sun but there are a few gaudy exceptions. The sego lily is among the flagrant flowers. Not fragrant, they have very little scent at all, but the stand up proud and tall against the less than friendly environment. These are not only beautiful, they are edible and actually TASTY! So many wild edibles taste like grass or worse, it is always fun to find one that is actually good. However, unless you are starving they are not really worth all the work, especially considering how hard it is on the little plants that already have a tough life. This is one of the few "wild edibles" I know of that has no known medicinal uses - other than to lift the spirits when one sees a field of them in bloom!

Sego lilies in the foreground, arrowleaf balsamroot in the background (yellow flowers.)


The lupine are also putting on a show right now, this was just across the street from the lilies.

All photos are my own, taken with Fuji FinePix S8300 this past week.


Flower season is winding down around here, only the toughest of them will continue to bloom as things heat up. Even as they fade away, the flowers continue to captivate. This little poppy in the yard is hanging on to one last petal but the fringe-like stamens and the wonderful pattern atop the seed pod keep them photo-worthy, in my opinion.

That is truly glorious faded glory.

We also had a lovely visitor join us for beer in the garden last night. Always good to see old friends back each year!

Cedar Waxwing enjoying a few currants