September 26 & 27, 2023
It’s hard now to imagine how extremely hot and dry the summer was this year. Without even a spittle of rain, the 100+ degree temps for weeks effectively suppressed the usual mid-season bloomers in and around the Albuquerque foothills/East Mountains. Even invasive plants, like goathead and tumbleweed, remained dormant or failed to germinate all together. It looked like winter browns had arrived early.
Then in less than a week, a small rain followed by several long downpours flooded the parched landscape, transforming browns to greens. You’ve heard this from me in a few earlier posts, but it was magical, and a reminder about the resiliency of desert vegetation.
Here’s a few pages highlighting a handful of the Late Bloomers I recorded in only 2 days. More than 2 dozen species had sprung back to life, setting flowers at all stages of accelerated vegetative growth. The landscape seemed wide awake. If plants could talk, I imagined them laughing while excitedly chanting, “hurry, hurry, hurry!” Only their roots prevented them from dancing!
In addition to the species on these journal pages, there are many (more) composites, native grasses, shrubs and sub shrubs, small forbs from Spring and early Summer actively growing and blooming right now, and (of course) the weedy invasives are growing and blooming with wild abandon.
Random thoughts and wonderings ….. are pollinators still hanging around …… or ….. how many of today’s bloomers are self fertile …… are local birds, insects, reptiles and mammals that depend on earlier summer pollen and/or fruit and seed production stressed with this timing change/availability of food sources … will there be noticeable shifts in species composition, including plants, insects, reptiles and animals (including birds) ….. what species can and will adapt to changes, and how quickly ….. etc. The answers to these and many more questions are probably best answered in coming years, if it’s even possible to answer them at all.
Have you observed vegetation anomalies that may be influenced by changes in climate? If so, please share your observations and where these changes are taking place. Meanwhile, keep your eyes wide open.
“Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what’s going on. ……….. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.” – Haruki Murakami.
published October 2, 2023
a curious nature 
So awesome sketches photography 🌹🙏👌beautiful flowers 🌸 bird and the green plants all
amazing , and the written lines so inspiring, here also hot , haze and rain , rapid changes as well
Happy days ahead dear friend and take care 👍🏻✍️🍂 graceful wishes 👏🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, Barb! What amazing sketches you have created to show that all has sprung to life from rainfall! I love the name Red Whiskered Clammyweed and how you sketched the “whiskers”! I would imagine there is a lot of adaptation going on for plants & animals with the extreme heat and waiting for the life-giving moisture. Our recent rains have greened up the grasses and filled the retention ponds where they are once again teeming with life!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much for the comments, Karen! In the short 6+ years we’ve lived here, it’s scary to witness so many extreme changes in climate and the seemingly apparent short term effects to ecological diversity. I do hope species are undergoing rapid adaptation, but is it in ways that will be flexible for unforeseen circumstances? I’m happy to hear you’ve had rains to transform your landscapes. Thanks again for commenting. I enjoy documenting what’s going on across our familiar hiking routes, and trying new approaches to my sketching/painting, like with the clammyweed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much for the wonderfully thoughtful comments, dear Thattamma! It has been an amazing transformation here, and I love hearing about your fascinating country. Isn’t it amazing how different parts of the world can be so different. I’m thinking hot steamy weather is normal for you during this time of year. But are your temperatures hotter? Rainfall heavier or not as heavy as in the past? Indonesia is always so beautifully green!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Malaysia always having unpredictable climate country 🌹🙏👌
And tropical 🏝 country also like that so hot , haze and suddenly rain
fall 👍🏻😍so beautiful and rich Malaysia , petroleum, rubber, oil palm and
Rice fields surrounded with awesome oceans 🌊 you are so
Welcome and God Bless dear friend 🌹🙏💗🥰🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much for sharing, Thattamma! No wonder your country is always so green!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most welcome dear friend 🙏💗🌹
LikeLike