It was early morning, but already a hot 85F as we hiked the dry, dusty trails of the Albuquerque foothills. With a few exceptions, late June’s wildflower display is all but gone, replaced by an abundance of seeds ready to drop, blow away, or feed hungry chicks. While the “stage” resets for the next Act, the Summer Monsoons, plants in the Sunflower-Daisy-Aster family (Asteraceae) still dot the quickly browning landscape with bright yellows, whites, and shades of purples. One of the most curious plants now making a showing is Rush Skeletonplant (Lygodesmiajuncea).
Perfectly adapted to the desert environment with its chaotic tangle of blue-green mostly leafless stems, is Rush Skeletonplant. Spindly stems, standing up to 18” tall, are topped with 1-2 petite pale lavender-pink flowers. These tiny delicate beauties may not be as showy as your garden variety sunflower, but when closely examined you’ll find typical characteristics of the family, including 4-6 strap shaped ligulate florets each with a protruding hot pink anther tube surrounding a double lobed stigma. Short lived, the florets quickly transform into dandelion-like seed heads.
So there we were, hiking along, wishing for even the gentlest of breezes to keep the biting gnats from crawling into our ears and mouths, when out of the corner of my eye …… Weirdness Extreme! A wildly malformed Rush Skeletonplant.
Last April I was asked to present a workshop about nature journaling for the 2023 Master Naturalists interns. Of course I readily agreed by declaring a hearty, “Yes!” This was quite an honor, but I instantly knew it would be challenging especially since I’ve never formally taught anyone anything about nature journaling. I would also be stepping into some big shoes; the regular instructor, Margy O’Brien (a wonderful journaler and urban sketcher), had to decline teaching this year, and she recommended me. Wow, a double honor!!
Sketching while walking around the Bosque at the Rio Grande Nature Center
So “drawing” upon my own journaling practice, and the treasure trove of information and resources available on the subject, my goal was to design a workshop that would be informative, inspiring and fun.
Sketching while walking around the Bosque at the Rio Grande Nature Center
After weeks of research, writing, and gathering baskets of phenomenon, the workshop day finally arrived!
Sketching while walking around the Bosque at the Rio Grande Nature Center
But first, my warm-up …..
Joining almost 30 interns that gathered early in the morning, we began the day with a 3-hour guided nature walk through the Bosque (Boh-skay) managed by the Rio Grande Nature Center, Albuquerque. The Bosque, the Spanish word for “Woods,” refers to the cottonwood gallery forest and riparian habitat lining the Rio Grande River. During the walk, I took notes and sketched some of the wildlife, landscapitos, and the tour group, all the while watching the excited interns in action. As budding Master Naturalists, they were curious about everything; noticing so much and asking thoughtful questions. It was a great morning that included some surprising discoveries and discussion.
Sketching while walking around the Bosque at the Rio Grande Nature Center
Sketching while walking around the Bosque at the Rio Grande Nature Center
My first nature journaling workshop!
Then it was time for the workshop. The next 90 minutes flew by …. not nearly enough time to share what I wanted to about nature journaling and to have everyone create an actual journal page. But I loved every minute of the experience. My focus was on the 6 key nature journaling prompts, I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds me of; Words, Pictures, Numbers. After warming up with several exercises, such as blind contour, continuous line and gesture sketching leaves and birds, each intern began creating their own journal page using their chosen phenomenon …… a mystery fruit. Although the time allocated for the workshop was short, everyone actively participated and seemed to get value from the presentation. Maybe, just maybe, one or all of the interns will become practicing nature journalers? That would be awesome!
Nature Journaling Workshop Handouts
Workshop Take-aways
In addition to my 6-page handout which included tips on how to get started nature journaling, what to include in a nature journal kit, a list of books and online references (including videos, podcasts, and blogs), and the handy little pocket-sized “Quick Start Guide to Nature Journaling” Zine (thanks Wild Wonder!), I left them with these inspiring thoughts:
“Anyone can nature journal.” ……… “Nature journaling is not about learning to draw; it’s about drawing to learn.” ……. “You don’t have to be an artist to nature journal.” ……. “It’s not about pretty pictures.” ……. “There’s no wrong way to nature journal.” ……. “Zoom in …… Zoom out.” ……. “Have fun!”
Nature Journaling Workshop Handouts
Would I do this again? Absolutely!
I’d love to know if you are a nature journaler too, or would like to learn more about nature journaling and how to begin!
April may have been amazing, but it was nothing compared to the explosion of life during May. My 2-page spread doesn’t even come close to representing all that we encountered throughout the month. And the 15 species I chose as “picks” aren’t even a third of those making an appearance …… enter stage left and right!
Noticeably missing was the black chinned hummingbird. They arrived mid-May, and began defending breeding territories. One of these years, I hope to find one of their miniature nests to see what building materials the hummers use. Until then, their aerial performance is always breathtaking!
Close-up
Then there was the morning Luna nearly stepped right in the middle of a really upset, hissing and striking prairie rattlesnake, practically right out our front door! It was a scary few moments until we determined Luna did not get bit! Whew. Roy expertly wrangled up the guy, herding him into a 5-gallon bucket, and relocated him a safe distance away. (I may cheat and add him to my June “Littles,” if you don’t mind, along with the first rattlesnake encounter of the season! Gotta love the desert.)
Another close-up
Included in the long list of flowering plants, was prickly pear cactus. Several species began opening their buds to reveal 20-30 delicate waxy yellow to apricot colored petals per bloom. It didn’t take long for the pollinators to find these delicacies!
And Another close up
Blooming in the foothills (5,000’ up to 7300’ elevation), there was milkwort, fleabane, scarlet globemallow, banana yucca, sundrops, milkweed, paintbrush, golden weed, common hoptree, puccoon, several species of pink-flowered hedgehog cactus, blazingstars, bee blossom, tahoka daisy, NM thistle, ……. etc. I could go on and on! And even at nearly 9,000’ elevation, rock jasmine, valerian, creeping mahonia, prairie bluebells, pasque flower and dwarf lousewort were all in bloom.
All in all, a bountiful full-on Spring bloom!
A big shout-out to “Made by Fay” for the inspiring “Littles” idea! Stay tuned for the next installment of “Littles.”
David Lukas, naturalist, presented an amazing 2 hour video workshop on the largest family of flowering plants, the family Asteraceae1, commonly called Sunflowers, Daisies, and Asters. Not only are they the largest family, they are also the most successful …. from a botanical and evolutionary perspective. That was the hook! I needed to know more!
Disclaimer! The following post is lengthy and covers many botanical things about sunflower “flowers” I wished to remember. If you decide to take this deep dive with me, prepare to be amazed. And if you make it all the way to the end, congratulations! But beware ….. you’ll develop an irresistible urge to stop and investigate every roadside sunflower on your next trip to town! Are you ready ……?
Come on along with us for 5 days of camping fun in the Land of Enchantment, where we had some weird and close encounters with botanical beauties, a bare-butted gopher, a swarm of bees, and voracious leaf-footed beetles! All this, and more while exploring a National Conservation Area, a Desert National Monument, and a New Mexico State Park, all within the Chihuahuan desert ecosystem.
After having just returned from a fabulous week in southern New Mexico (blog posts to come) where we hiked and hiked, and got reacquainted with the Spring-time desert flora and fauna, we seemed to be craving pine and fir trees and some mountain air. How high do we dare hike? Would there still be snow? These and more questions rattled about in my mind as we headed the truck up the 13 mile long and winding Sandia Mountain Crest Road (central New Mexico). Ahhhhh …… so invigorating!
Satisfying our craving (at 8500 feet in elevation) and answering the question about leftover winter snow (not a single snowflake to be found), we pulled up to the Tecolote Trail trailhead and began our ascent, in shorts and T-shirts. The first half mile up was brisk, both in temperature and pace, but after I was well warmed up it was time to open my eyes to investigate anything and everything growing, sprouting and blooming.
This was the earliest date (May 7th) in the Spring we’ve hiked Tecolote, so I was hoping to see a variety of wildflowers that were new-to-me species. I wasn’t disappointed! Blooming beautifully were the minuscule Pygmy-flower rock jasmine (in the primrose family), Arizona valerian (a species of honeysuckle), along with lance-leaf bluebells (borage family), and White Mountain bladderpod (a brilliant yellow 4-petaled member of the mustard family). Covering the slopes everywhere we’re the bright yellow flowers of Oregon creeping grape (aka creeping mahonia), and common along the trail were flats and flats of the dwarf purple and white lousewort (in the broomrape family), it’s flowers growing close to the ground amongst its deep green dense and curly margined fern-like leaves. Perky Sue (a happy yellow daisy) and the soft-like-a-teddy-bear prairie pasque flower (a type of buttercup) rounded out the bloomers that I could find.
These pages in my journal focused on the shrubs and trees showing growth alongside the trail, drawn from snippets collected during the hike.
It was a perfect morning for a hike! Wished you’d been there with us.
Until next time …… How’s your Spring is shaping up! Do you have a favorite plant that’s blooming, or a singing bird tending chicks? I’d love to hear your story.
P.S. This journal page layout was inspired by an amazing nature journaler, artist and teacher, Jean Mackay who loves all of nature and sharing her discoveries through illustration. Thanks Jean!
Oh my goodness! What a brilliant Spring Super Bloom is on display mere steps east of Albuquerque.
Alas, I found myself lamenting for months over the long and snowy wet winter we just climbed out of here in the East Mountains of central New Mexico. It seemed the back-to-back snowstorms since last November were never ending; snow shoveling every morning became the norm. But I know better than to whine. An abundance of winter moisture always results in a spectacular abundance of spring flowers. And this Spring has proven that true.
Scrambled Eggs
The last two months we’ve seen a mad splash of sunshine yellow from the blooming of a native winter annual called Golden Corydalis, aka Scrambled Eggs (Corydalisaurea). This member of the poppy family quickly converted the dusty hillsides from brown to a glowing yellow as the many-flowered stalks of this plant seemed to shoot up over last season’s dried grasses. Scrambled Eggs was the plant I thought would be our Spring super bloomer.
But, oh no!
During a full two weeks of being distracted by the glow of all that yellow, all around our feet, 1,000s and 1,000s of blue-gray-green rosettes began to grow. I noticed these rosettes (the very same mystery rosettes I described in my January journal), were rapidly expanding outward to make room for flower stalks heavily laden with little rosy orange buds. And then one day one of those buds unfurled into a brilliantly white 4-petaled flower. In the center of that flower were 8 lemon-yellow pollen-heavy anthers surrounding a 4-fingered lemon-yellow stigma, ripe for pollination. Of course …… now I knew with certainty ….. the flower blooming atop the pretty winter rosettes is the White-stemmed Evening Primrose (Oenotheraalbicaulis)!
One of my January posts included this page where I illustrated a mystery rosette (top center) that seemed to be everywhere.
Also known as Whitest Evening Primrose, it wasn’t long until more flowers began to appear. “But, wow, was it possible that all those 1,000s and 1,000s of rosettes would each produce a bouquet of flowers?” Hiking these foothills every day paid of. As the excitement of possibility steadily unfolded, hundreds of thousands of large 2-4” white flowers unfurled each evening about sunset to greet potential overnight pollinators, and to welcome hikers the following morning.
My journal page illustrating the abundance of white-stemmed evening primroseA vista of whitewhite-stemmed evening primrose
In about a week since I noticed that first open flower, this native Evening Primrose was carpeting the hillsides in white as brilliant and sparkly as newly fallen snow. The ground became “Snow White” with flowers, out-performing the still profusely-blooming Scrambled Eggs.
And the show won’t end any time soon …. there are still an unbelievable number of White-stemmed Evening Primrose buds awaiting their turn to enter the play from stage right! Now that’s what I call a true Spring Super Bloomer.
A detailed page of my dissection of white-stemmed evening primrose
What marvelous transformations have or are happening outside your world this Spring?
Like my January “Littles” page of the bird species that visit our feeders in winter, here’s another “Littles” to commemorate the not-quite-winter-or-spring month of February ….. Seeds and Seed Pods. As a way to pass the time while waiting for Roy to finish up with a doctor visit, Luna and I conducted a focused scavenger hunt along a 2 mile circuit surrounding a large Albuquerque shopping mall. In no time at all, my collection bag was full. But knowing my pages would need some local flavor and color too, I scavenged a bit longer and turned up a few more curiosities.
Like with January’s page of birds, sketches of the species of seed pod and seeds (if collected) took less than 5 minutes each; my watercolor pencil paintings took about 10 minutes each. The restaurant logo and the frog design took a bit longer, and were done using my photos as reference.
I’m not sure why it took nearly the entire month to decide what to do for my February “Littles.” In hindsight, the decision should have been obvious, because I love seeds and the seemingly unlimited variety of pods. Now I have a record of a few city seeds that will soon germinate, helping change the landscape from brown to spring green!
Let me know what you think! I’m looking forward to March, when wildflower seedlings will be popping up which may appear in a few “Littles” boxes as well!
Thanks to “Made by Fay” for the “Littles” inspiration!
The much anticipated finale, Snowbirds, and wrap-up to a grand anniversary week celebration in and around Tucson, AZ, follows!
Despite an unexpected snow the evening of our arrival, we never seemed to slow down, taking in as many sights and good eats as humanly possible. …… Open the full post for a recap of our week, and a bit about some of the birds we found while traveling around.
We totally get it! Why Mt. Lemmon is nicknamed “Tucson’s Great Escape.” Why the scenic highway is ”Cool!” From the Lower Sonoran Desert and the Tucson Valley (2,200 feet) to the upper reaches of a Spruce-Fir Forest (topping out at about 9,200 feet), the popular Scenic Highway up Mt. Lemmon offers breathtaking views, plants to discover, geology to learn, recreation opportunities, and temperatures often 30 degrees F lower than the desert below. That means a lot, especially when Tucson’s summer temps are in the triple digits!
But on the day of our driving adventure we found snow ….. on the highway, at scenic overlooks, and on walking trails. The storm hit 4 days earlier forcing closure of much of the highway. But on this day, most of the roads were clear and so was the sky.
So come along and learn what there’s to see along the Mt. Lemmon Scenic Highway.
a curious nature 