Last weekend we happened to drive by a nature preserve we had not visited for at least 15 years, and decided to check it out: Wilderness Gardens on SR-76 just east of Pala.
The San Luis Rey River was dry, but its rocky flood plain had lots of flowers
Lady-Fingers (Dudleya edulis)
Lance-leaf Dudleya (D. lanceolata)
large-flowered Jimson Weed (Datura wrightii) as well as
small Sapphire Wooly-Star (Eriastrum sapphirinum),
which required a closer look to appreciate its beauty,
and Skunkweed (Navarretia hamata),
often smelled before seen.
A small pond was home to a lone Coot and a noisy Bullfrog.
Past a field of Wine-cup Clarkia (C. purpurea)
we hiked up to an overlook,
along flowering slopes
with numerous Heart-leaf Penstemon (Keckiella cordifolia)
and its relative,
Yellow Bush-Penstemon (K. antirrhinoides).
On the way back to the parking lot, a few Coast Prickly Pear (Opuntia littoralis)
and Nuttall Snapdragon (Antirrhinum nuttallianum) added more color,
and Jimson Weed was outright ubiquitous.