Wildflowers in Tilden

I'm a little behind on my blogging.  These photos are from about 3 or 4 weeks ago on a hike up in Tilden Park in Berkeley.  It was a beautiful day with lots blooming. Enjoy.\

Sisyrinchium bellum (blue-eyed grass) perfectly scattered about this meadow.

Lupine.  A huge slope full of these big purple bushes.  Really beautiful.

There was a slope full of Indian paintbrush and checker mallow.

And not a picture of a flower, but this branch popping out of the main stem was pretty cool.  Cow parsnip or Heracleum maximum.  A not so attractive plant in my opinion, but I like this shot.

Mt. Diablo Wildflowers

Whoever said April showers bring May flowers was obviously not from California.  Though we do have rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  Our wildflowers are already on full display.  I went up to Mt. Diablo in the Mitchell Canyon area to check out the wildflowers on a day off about ten days ago.  I was not disappointed.  A really beautiful section of the mountain with a huge variety of wildflowers.

One of the first things we saw were Ithuriel's spears.  Not my favorite bulb since the flowers remind me of agapanthus, but just opening or scattered about a grassy meadow, I think I could learn to like them.

Some type of allium, either Allium serra or unifolium I think.

Indian warrior and Indian paintbrush.  The latter with some unusual host plants, like a salvia.

Larkspur aka delphinium.  There was also a red one that I rarely see.

Clematis ligusticifolia, chaparral clematis, was all over a couple of slopes.  And some of the trees.

More after the jump.