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Scott: Winter rains paint desert with poppies
For much of the winter, the southern New Mexico landscape can seem pretty static – with long stretches of monotonous desert scrub only occasionally interrupted by a leafless mesquite or yucca. Then suddenly, among the sea of olive drab and gray, one spots a pop of saturated color: the bright yellow-orange of a Mexican gold poppy.
This winter’s especially generous rains were bound to create a nice tapestry of spring wildflowers, and early signs are that we may be in for a treat. Although a number of blooms have been cropping up here and there over the past couple of weeks, none of them can blanket an entire hillside or flat like the poppies can, and over the next month or so the show could be spectacular.
The Mexican gold poppy is a close cousin of the California poppy, and individual plants sometimes show their kinship with more orange coloration. Their delicate, bluish-green, fern-like foliage is virtually identical. They are annuals, meaning they bloom, set seed and die within the year, but since they usually seed prolifically, once a nice stand is established it tends to be self-sustaining. Ample winter rainfall often produces peak blooms the following spring, and even minor rain amounts while plants are flowering will prolong the bloom season.
Being as numerous and widespread as poppies are, their early spring blooms are a veritable banquet for bees and other insects, and once the plants are finished flowering, their tiny seeds are prized by doves, sparrows and small mammals. Native Americans are known to have found many medicinal uses for various plant parts, from a toothache remedy to a skin salve, but since plants can sometimes be poisonous, experimenting is not wise.
In Spanish, the Mexican gold poppy is known as Amopalo del Campo, which means “poppy of the countryside,” and it occurs on sandy or gravelly hillsides, deserts, grasslands and flats throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico. The flowers close before nightfall, and wait for the midmorning sun to coax them open. On rainy or overcast days they don’t open at all. Usually poppies populate the low to middle elevations, and in our area are especially prolific in places like the foothills on the east side of the Organ Mountains, and along the highways and interstates where runoff provides extra moisture.
The stretch of US 70 between the Aguirre Springs turnoff to a little past the Main Post of White Sands Missile Range is reportedly starting to be splotched with color, as are areas along I-25 north of Doña Ana. The eastern slopes of the Franklin Mountains in El Paso, seen from Transmountain Road, typically put on a good show as well. In many years, I-10 west of town toward Deming can be pretty, and the foothills of the Florida Mountains just beyond can be spectacular, even when seen at 75 mph. So, whether you’re commuting or traveling or just looking for something to do, keep an eye on the roadsides and bajadas for the sunshine-in-a-flower, a treat whether a single pop of color or a carpet of golden yellow.
Marcy Scott is a local birder, botanizer, and author of the recently published book, "Hummingbird Plants of the Southwest." Along with her husband, Jimmy Zabriskie, she operates Robledo Vista Nursery in the North Valley, www.robledovista.com, specializing in native and adapted plants for birds and wildlife habitat. She can be reached at HummingbirdPlantsSW@gmail.com.