There is an entrance to the Fort Ord National Monument near us, a mere 20 minute walk from where we are camped at the Laguna Seca Regional Park. The monument was once an army base, rightfully billed as the most beautiful army base in America. Getting there from our camp requires climbing a steep hill and hiking along a ridge. We’ve been there twice. The first time we went without our cameras. Boy, was that a mistake. Wild flowers were bursting into bloom everywhere. Then we came upon a whole field of the eye popping beauties featured above. They came in multiple bright colors. Then and there, we vowed “We’ll be back!”
The next day found us climbing the hill again with my camera. Peggy’s camera, and our cell phone. Just in case. We entered the National Monument and I dutifully went to work, capturing wildflowers as I walked along the trail. Peggy took off like a greyhound. That woman can move when she has a mind to! I think she was afraid that the flowers we had so admired the day before would be past their prime, expired, and that somehow ten minutes was going to make all the difference. When I arrived a half hour later, the flowers were still in their prime, new ones had joined the crowd, and over a gazillion buds were waiting for their turn. Peggy quickly announced that she had taken over 20 photos of the flowers. She never takes 20 photos of any one thing. That’s what I do. Naturally, I had to add to her collection.
One challenge we faced was we didn’t recognize the flower. I knew it was a composite, a member of the vast family of sunflowers, daisies, asters, etc. Not a problem, we thought. Ha. That evening, I checked my National Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers with its 666 entries. No luck. Okay, time to jump online. I typed in flowers of Fort Ord National Monument. Nope. How about flowers of Monterey County. Nothing. Flowers of the central Pacific Coast of California? Nada.
Then I remembered that we had added a flower ID app to our i-phone a few years back. Would it still be there? Peggy went searching and found it. She took a photo of my screen showing one of the flowers. And there was the answer: Gazania. What? We had never heard of it. Turns out it is a native of South Africa. I had taken photos of a number of flowers in South Africa on our safari trip there. But not Gazania.
Its beauty meant that it had been imported to the US and numerous other countries to adorn flower gardens. Not surprisingly, it had escaped. Monterey was listed as one of the counties where it happened. Following are a number of photos that Peggy and I took of the Gazania and other flowers we found along our walk both wild and wild-domesticated.
Yellow twins…Orange reddish triplets…A red single…A yellow single.A couple.A bouquet.Another bouquet.A field.A happy Peggy.Looking out from Fort Ord National Monument south toward the coast range and Big Sur.Coast live oaks on the edge of Fort Ord National Monument in Laguna Seca Regional Park. The top of a picnic table can be seen in the background. We walked through a very attractive tent campground on our way to the monument.We also found this flower growing on a bush in the campground just before we hiked into the monument. Our flower app described it as a gum Cistus.We were greeted by this sign as we walked into the park. With a rich military history behind it, the army base was closed in 1994 due to base realignment. In 2012, President Obama signed a proclamation declaring a portion of the former base as a national monument. Following are some of the wild flowers we saw. I knew most of them, but used the phone app to check.This golden violet was among the wild flowers I photographed along our trail.A member of the mallow family with spider. Can you find it?Bluedick with a bee.Yarrow with beetles.Vetch.Scarlet pimpernel.Golden eggs.It isn’t known for its beauty, but miner’s lettuce is noted for its edibility. The 49ers of the California Gold Rush mixed it into their salads regularly, as my mother did on occasion when I was growing up. I pulled a leaf and chomped down. Peggy nibbled a small bite cautiously.One of numerous members of the lupine family.Peggy and I were amused when we hiked back to our camp and found two Gazania perched above it that we had failed to notice previously. That’s it for today. Next up we will take you on two scenic drives: Ocean View Drive in Pacific Grove and the world famous 17 Mile Drive between Pacific Grove and Carmel.This view had Peggy and I both wondering what the heck we were looking at. Sea lions, yes. But doing what? I’ll explain what we learned in our next post.
29 thoughts on “Gadzooks! It’s a Gazillion Gazania… A Flower Walk in Fort Ord National Monument: Pacific Coast 1”
Wow, Fort Ord sure looks different from back in the 70’s when it was teeming with military folks! I remember going to Laguna Seca to watch motorcycle races back in the 80’s. Looks like Big Sur will be off limits for quite a while. Hard impact on residents and local businesses!
I remember it from the 70s as well, Arati. There was a rifle range just off the highway and there were always soldiers practicing there. I think a motorcycle race would be fun to watch, as would be the bicycle races coming up next week. But with 9,000 cyclists, 1000 vendors, and 70,000 plus fans, I think it might be just a tad busy for me!
I can believe that Ray. It would have been like having million dollar ocean views. There was a shooting range just off Highway 1. I can remember soldiers out improving their skills when I used to come down here in the 70s.
Hello! What beautiful flowers! And the weather looks absolutely amazing! The miner’s lettuce reminded me that my grandmother would go out to pick dandelions and other “weeds” to make a great salad. Us grandchildren thought it very odd. Happy travels! Thank you!
I think our ‘salad additions’ were pretty much limited to miner’s lettuce and watercress, Wendy. One of my jobs was to do the gathering, which I always considered fun. We lucked out on the weather and flowers! The couple of days we had of rain merely allowed us to catch up on chores.
The Gazanias are gorgeous, Curt! I wanted to purchase some Black-eyed Susans for my garden but couldn’t find any at the nursery (?). I’ll keep an eye out for Gazanias. They may not be native to Oregon, but they don’t look particularly invasive. And thanks for the other great flower pictures – and names – that’s a great app. Happy Travels!
I almost hiked back there yesterday to check them out one more time, D. As for the app, I can’t tell you much I appreciate it. I’m fairly good at flower ID, having spent so much of my life out in the woods and always interested in the natural world, but finding a flower I don’t know can be challenging to say the least. Good luck on finding flowers for your home. Let me know if you come up with Gazania. Thanks.
🙂 I will definitely look! I’m pet sitting in Bend right now and then off to Sedona for some desert hiking before it gets too hot.
Pet sitting in Bend. That’s where we bought our trailer. And hiking in Sedona. Always a kick. Great beauty and fun trails. Plus ley lines and UFOs. Grin. Have fun.
I’m eager to have a few Encounters of the Third Kind. Hehe.
I once sat on the conjunction of two lay lines in Sedona for an hour waiting for a flying saucer, D. Grin. It didn’t appear but its absence was more than made up for by the beauty of the surrounding scenery as the sun set.
I did, however, see an a UFO in Sacramento once. A very round disk flew into a cloud going one direction, flew out going another direction, sped up and disappeared. And no, I wasn’t on drugs. I became a believer forever afterward.
Great story! It’s hard to imagine that we are alone in the universe (or the most intelligent). We’ll do at least one sunset hike while we’re there. I’ll keep an eye out for saucers.
Pretty flowers – I can see why your wife would take so many photos!
Our Argentine Giant Cactus bloomed today. The flowers last only one day. The Car Guy and I took 42 photos of it – but we were using two cameras, a variety of lenses and playing around with aperture. Then I used my iPhone and to be honest, the photos were nearly as good looking as using my macro lens on a Canon Rebel. Of course, the macro photo was a far superior photo if I wanted to make a large print, but I never print photos any more!
Our flowers in Oregon used to elicit such attention as well, especially the Iris that were pretty much one day wonders, at least at their peak. We didn’t make it to 42 with the Gazania, but there were at least 30!
I only heard about Gazanias a couple of years ago, and that was from a South African blogger. Eventually, a gardener or two mentioned them, but I’ve never seen them in the wild or at a nursery. They certainly are gorgeous. And yes, those plant ID apps are useful. When I discovered that I could use the app to take a photo of a photo already on my computer, it was a very good day. It made it possible to go back, look at some previously unidentified flowers, and pin them down.
I really laughed at the pair of gazanias at your campground. Isn’t that just the way? It’s like learning a new word, and then finding it used everywhere.
I have several flower books that I’ve accumulated over the years, Linda. And finding flowers was always fun. But it could be time consuming. I am really appreciating the app! Then I can google the flower for more information. Or, use one of my trusty old books.
I think the gazanias next to our camp were laughing at us.
Thank you for the introduction to this gorgeous flower. Your photos are stunning. I couldn’t find the spider. I thought maybe the long pale thing hanging down was a single spider leg?
Wandering through Time and Place 
Wow, Fort Ord sure looks different from back in the 70’s when it was teeming with military folks! I remember going to Laguna Seca to watch motorcycle races back in the 80’s. Looks like Big Sur will be off limits for quite a while. Hard impact on residents and local businesses!
I remember it from the 70s as well, Arati. There was a rifle range just off the highway and there were always soldiers practicing there. I think a motorcycle race would be fun to watch, as would be the bicycle races coming up next week. But with 9,000 cyclists, 1000 vendors, and 70,000 plus fans, I think it might be just a tad busy for me!
Love these beautiful flowers!
That makes two of us!
Fabulous pictures. I must track down an app for identifying flowers. As an aside, I think my dad did his flight training at Fort Ord.
Thanks, Peggy. Don’t know about flight training but Fort Ord served as one of the primary centers for basic training during the Vietnam War.
Great colors in the flowers and quite a nice coastal live oak. Almost Texas sized!!
Yellow and red, a striking combination.
Very much so, G!
A lieutenant on my team was assigned to Fort Ord on his return from Vietnam. He loved it and said it was the best assignment he ever had.
I can believe that Ray. It would have been like having million dollar ocean views. There was a shooting range just off Highway 1. I can remember soldiers out improving their skills when I used to come down here in the 70s.
Hello! What beautiful flowers! And the weather looks absolutely amazing! The miner’s lettuce reminded me that my grandmother would go out to pick dandelions and other “weeds” to make a great salad. Us grandchildren thought it very odd. Happy travels! Thank you!
I think our ‘salad additions’ were pretty much limited to miner’s lettuce and watercress, Wendy. One of my jobs was to do the gathering, which I always considered fun. We lucked out on the weather and flowers! The couple of days we had of rain merely allowed us to catch up on chores.
The Gazanias are gorgeous, Curt! I wanted to purchase some Black-eyed Susans for my garden but couldn’t find any at the nursery (?). I’ll keep an eye out for Gazanias. They may not be native to Oregon, but they don’t look particularly invasive. And thanks for the other great flower pictures – and names – that’s a great app. Happy Travels!
I almost hiked back there yesterday to check them out one more time, D. As for the app, I can’t tell you much I appreciate it. I’m fairly good at flower ID, having spent so much of my life out in the woods and always interested in the natural world, but finding a flower I don’t know can be challenging to say the least. Good luck on finding flowers for your home. Let me know if you come up with Gazania. Thanks.
🙂 I will definitely look! I’m pet sitting in Bend right now and then off to Sedona for some desert hiking before it gets too hot.
Pet sitting in Bend. That’s where we bought our trailer. And hiking in Sedona. Always a kick. Great beauty and fun trails. Plus ley lines and UFOs. Grin. Have fun.
I’m eager to have a few Encounters of the Third Kind. Hehe.
I once sat on the conjunction of two lay lines in Sedona for an hour waiting for a flying saucer, D. Grin. It didn’t appear but its absence was more than made up for by the beauty of the surrounding scenery as the sun set.
I did, however, see an a UFO in Sacramento once. A very round disk flew into a cloud going one direction, flew out going another direction, sped up and disappeared. And no, I wasn’t on drugs. I became a believer forever afterward.
Great story! It’s hard to imagine that we are alone in the universe (or the most intelligent). We’ll do at least one sunset hike while we’re there. I’ll keep an eye out for saucers.
Pretty flowers – I can see why your wife would take so many photos!
Our Argentine Giant Cactus bloomed today. The flowers last only one day. The Car Guy and I took 42 photos of it – but we were using two cameras, a variety of lenses and playing around with aperture. Then I used my iPhone and to be honest, the photos were nearly as good looking as using my macro lens on a Canon Rebel. Of course, the macro photo was a far superior photo if I wanted to make a large print, but I never print photos any more!
Our flowers in Oregon used to elicit such attention as well, especially the Iris that were pretty much one day wonders, at least at their peak. We didn’t make it to 42 with the Gazania, but there were at least 30!
Gorgeous! As are the sea lions 😁
Alison
From past experience, we expected it would be, Alison. But there are always surprises. 😳 Thanks. –Curt
Yeah, a bit much!
I only heard about Gazanias a couple of years ago, and that was from a South African blogger. Eventually, a gardener or two mentioned them, but I’ve never seen them in the wild or at a nursery. They certainly are gorgeous. And yes, those plant ID apps are useful. When I discovered that I could use the app to take a photo of a photo already on my computer, it was a very good day. It made it possible to go back, look at some previously unidentified flowers, and pin them down.
I really laughed at the pair of gazanias at your campground. Isn’t that just the way? It’s like learning a new word, and then finding it used everywhere.
I have several flower books that I’ve accumulated over the years, Linda. And finding flowers was always fun. But it could be time consuming. I am really appreciating the app! Then I can google the flower for more information. Or, use one of my trusty old books.
I think the gazanias next to our camp were laughing at us.
Thank you for the introduction to this gorgeous flower. Your photos are stunning. I couldn’t find the spider. I thought maybe the long pale thing hanging down was a single spider leg?
At first I thought it was a pistil, Crystal, but the more I looked I decided it had legs… 😁 Photographing the gazanias was a lot of fun. Thanks.