Death Valley Wildflowers

March 15, 2005 2:06 AM

Death Valley in bloom. Lots more here and the story is here. Flickr photos with tags deathvalley+flowers. (Full disclosure: I work on Flickr. -ericost) NPR did a segment recently. Desert USA has a guide. The Death Valley National Park news page has a link to two PDFs. Wildflower Update. (via MetaTalk, five fresh fish, monju_bosatsu, ericost, euphorb, ori, and the MeFi community. All text and copy directly lifted from the thread.)
posted by loquacious (24 comments total)

Incredible. You have to hand it to nature...

(Also, will this lovely post usher in a new age of sharing, collaboration, and love at MetaFilter? Tune in next week for the stunning conclusion.)
posted by flaneur at 2:20 AM on March 15, 2005

No.

News at 5.
posted by DaShiv at 3:04 AM on March 15, 2005

Not keen on this phrasing (not yours, I know): "Flickr photos with tags deathvalley+flowers", as if Flickr is the origin of the photographs and not the photographers. It goes uncomfotrably in the direction of a claimed ownership of (or at least claimed credit for) the photos. No one says "Blogger paragraphs about..." This phenomenon seems unique to Flickr users and developers, but perhaps there is still a novelty factor at work. They're photos on the web. If the photos were the focus and not Flickr, there'd hardly be any need for the "full disclosure" comment (which certainly didn't need repeating here). Some great photographs, though.
posted by nthdegx at 3:59 AM on March 15, 2005

This saddens me...that I'll miss it.
god, that's beautiful.

On second thought, anyone in the Midwest want to make it to St. Louis and head out there for a couple days?
posted by notsnot at 4:33 AM on March 15, 2005

Well done, everyone.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:31 AM on March 15, 2005

This is a great post that was remarkable to see germinate on The Gray. Thanks, all.
posted by geekyguy at 5:37 AM on March 15, 2005

If you can't get to Death Valley for this stunning display it's worth remembering that deserts all over the SW US bloom around this time of year. Utah, Arizona, Nevada & New Mexico had beautiful blooms when I was there just after Easter last year. I would link to my pix but I still haven't sorted them out. [\slacker]
posted by i_cola at 6:38 AM on March 15, 2005

I'll see you in Metatal...

Oh.
posted by Quartermass at 7:00 AM on March 15, 2005

Can you say doublepost? (Think about it.)

This process reminds me of the Plastic SubQ. ;-P
posted by mischief at 8:29 AM on March 15, 2005

I think that is totally cool. Isn't that the closest it gets to a "community weblog"?
posted by freebird at 8:39 AM on March 15, 2005

This site has some interesting tidbits about the valley and the end mentions some other areas where one can see floral beauty. Yes.

I would so love to go see this. Shame it is so damn far away. Oh well.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 8:47 AM on March 15, 2005

Er, the entire site is useful actually. From the front page there is a link to wildflower sightings, telling you some of the best spots to visit. The site also lists some of the plants of Death Valley.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 8:52 AM on March 15, 2005

I just decided that I will have to see this in person. Thanks for the links, I'm going to be there on April 1st (not April Fool's).
posted by crazy finger at 9:08 AM on March 15, 2005

This is just wonderful, thanks everyone!
posted by carter at 9:32 AM on March 15, 2005

The reason DV is in full bloom is that it's had more than enough rain this past season. This is a very rare occurance, happening only every few decades or so.

old account of winter precip, but not enough so the valley bloomed bigtime.

excellent article on the rain, the potential for flooding, and all that jazz.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:36 AM on March 15, 2005

[this is a wonderful thing]
posted by moonbird at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2005

Took some friends to Joshua Tree over the weekend. The lower elevations (South entrance) are full of wildflowers (the Joshua trees are also starting to bloom). Ran into more than a few folks that were older lifelong residents of CA that had not seen anything like it before. The wildflower display wasn't as much of a blanket like at the California poppy fields, but the surrounding terrain is far more interesting. It's great to see SoCal looking so green.
posted by lazymonster at 10:18 AM on March 15, 2005

On second thought, anyone in the Midwest want to make it to St. Louis and head out there for a couple days?
posted by notsnot at 6:33 AM CST on March 15 [!]
Yesssssss, same thoughts here in Dallas, Tx.
posted by thomcatspike at 10:43 AM on March 15, 2005

what an oddly named place... death valley. doesn't the blooming of a place called death valley seem incredibly ironic? the first line of the FPP hints at it, but it feels to me like death has bloomed particularly colorfully and ubiquitously this past year... if i were much more superstitious than i am, i would muse that this was either a manifestation of death's bloom, or an omen of future life for Death.

i know this is reading way too deep, but this is the first thing that came to mind when i read this.
posted by Embryo at 10:44 AM on March 15, 2005

It's "death Valley" beacuse this is an extremely rare occurence.

OK, I just canceled plans for SxSW and am flying out to SD to go see this. What the hell, only live once.
posted by notsnot at 7:06 PM on March 15, 2005 [1 favorite]

Thank you. The pictures are beautiful and I would love to go but at about 5 hrs. from LA I might have to get my flower fix at Joshua Tree or the poppy fields instead. I have yet to spot a desert tortoise at Joshua Tree but chances would seem better now with warmer temperatures and more green stuff for them to eat.
posted by PY at 8:23 PM on March 15, 2005

PY, if you're going to make it to JT, may as well head out to DV. If anyone wants to meet up in DV in the next couple days, email me - addy in profile.
posted by notsnot at 10:59 PM on March 15, 2005

Death Valley in Bloom Quicktime VR .mov
posted by adzm at 11:31 PM on March 15, 2005

Here is a 2004 / 2005 Desert Wildflower Forecast and Report for the Tucson area, which also has some links to sites that cover other areas (at the bottom of the page)
posted by eckeric at 7:33 AM on March 16, 2005