This is a photo gallery based on two visits to Coyote Creek Wash in March, 2004, and a brief follow-up in December, 2005. The picture above is facing northwest with Coyote Mountain being in the foreground of the mountains on the right. The Santa Rosa Mountains are just visible as the farther ridge. Coyote Canyon is at the extreme left of the picture, to the left of the roundish mountain. To access this area, you drive to the end of the pavement on DiGeorgio Road, and either walk across the wash or drive along the dirt Coyote Creek Road to the base of Coyote Mountain. Tom Chester related to me that “This area has always been a wonderful wildflower spot in Borrego Springs.  It is a favorite among tourists since it is right "in town,” and doesn't require any driving on a dirt road to access.  This area is the sandy wash of Coyote Creek.  Although the Creek only infrequently runs with water in this area, over the eons it has supplied lots of sand that has been deposited here, that is blown around by the fierce winds of the area at times.  The sands support large showy fields of sand verbena and dune primrose, among other species that love that habitat.  Typically, this area gets much more rain than parts of the desert to the east, and so is a fairly reliable wildflower spot. Unfortunately, the wildflowers disappeared here in the early 2010s, as the area was taken over by Sahara mustard.  But three years of severe drought, from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014, essentially eliminated the mustard, and in 2015 the wildflowers came back. Without two to three years in a row of severe drought, the mustard will take over this area again.  But at least now we know that there is an upside to such years.” As always with these galleries, an asterisk next to the common name indicates a non-native taxon, and the symbol † is for a probable ID. For reference, see Tom Chester's online Anza-Borrego: Plant Guide to Coyote Creek Wash.

Desert USA says "The desert lily has a deep bulb that sends up a stem in early spring that can be 1 to 4 feet high. [It] was called 'Ajo (garlic) lily' by the Spanish because of the bulb's flavor. Native Americans used the bulb as a food source, These bulbs can remain in the ground for several years, waiting for enough moisture to emerge." The name Hesperocallis published by Asa Gray in 1868, comes from the Greek hesperos, "of or at evening, western, the west," and kallos, "beauty," and translates as "evening or western beauty" because the sun sets in the west. The genus contains only this single species.

Arizona lupine
Lupinus arizonicus
Fabaceae

Spectacle pod
Dithyrea californica
Brassicaceae

Spanish needles
Palafoxia arida var. arida
Asteraceae
[Named for José Rebolledo de Palafox y Melzi, 1776-1847]

Desert calico
Loeseliastrum matthewsii
Polemoniaceae
[Named for Washington Matthews, 1843-1905]