While still in the throes of winter here in New England, I took a virtual tour through American desert wildflowers, and not just photos, but embedded videos. I've watched this one several time through, full of beautiful plants which seem so much more alive with the blooms waving in the strong breeze, all set to a soft jazz soundtrack.
This also gives a chance to highlight the YouTube feature that has been added to the NARGS Forum, allowing YouTube videos to be embedded within these pages. It's easy to do... after visiting a YouTube video, the URL can be copied, then in the body of a NARGS Forum message, click the YouTube button and paste in the URL.
In this particular video, there are some familiar rock garden plant friends seen, such as fetching clumps of a white evening primrose (I'm guessing Oenothera caespitosa ssp. marginata), a couple different Sphaeralcea species (Desert Mallow, Globe Mallow), Showy Four O'clock (most likely Mirabilis multiflora), Calochortus, and many others. If anyone recognizes the Penstemon species at the end of the video, with tall wand-like stems and light sky blue flowers, tell us what you think it is... I think I'm in love! ;)
Nice page on 3 species of Sphaeralcea (coccinea, leptophylla, parvifolia)... these are a party for the eyes :D
http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Pink%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/sph...