{"id":52207,"date":"2018-05-22T04:22:40","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T10:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=52207"},"modified":"2026-03-12T06:19:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:19:57","slug":"blooming-desert-globemallows-orange-wildflowers-that-brighten-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/22\/blooming-desert-globemallows-orange-wildflowers-that-brighten-the-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Blooming Desert Globemallows – Orange Wildflowers That Brighten the Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BloomingBlooming Desert Globemallow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have followed me, my photography and my blog for any length of time you’ll know I can’t resist taking photos of wildflowers even though my true passion lies with bird photography.<\/p>\n

Two days ago I simply had to take photos of the orange wildflowers that I saw blooming on the way to the Spiral Jetty<\/span><\/a> in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

The wildflowers I photographed are Desert Globemallows (Sphaeralcea ambigua<\/em>) and they were blooming abundantly near the road to the jetty.<\/p>\n

I don’t think I have seen so many of them in full bloom before. I’ve seen them before here in Utah many times and in Nevada’s Great Basin National Park.<\/p>\n

\"DesertDesert Globemallow wildflower – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Desert Globemallows are also called Apricot globe-mallow, Desert mallow, and Apricot mallow. They are native perennial herbs that can be found in Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah and as far south as southern Mexico.<\/p>\n

These mallows are extremely drought tolerant plants that are beneficial to honey bees as well as our native bees because they provide a steady source of pollen and nectar throughout their blooming season which can be from February through November depending on geographic location.<\/p>\n

Desert Globemallow thrives in dry, sandy or rocky soils in arid deserts and the plants actually require dry conditions in cultivated gardens to look their best. (The plants are commercially available)<\/p>\n

Desert Globemallow plants are from one to three feet tall.<\/p>\n

\"DesertDesert Globemallows in full bloom – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have to be honest, I don’t usually care for the color orange at all but I make exceptions when the orange I am seeing is from orange wildflowers (or birds).<\/p>\n

I loved seeing these globemallows in bloom the other day because they contrasted so wonderfully from the already drying grasses that surrounded them.<\/p>\n

It was fun to point my lens at them as well as the birds I found plus my mother enjoyed seeing and photographing them too.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wildflowers I photographed are Desert Globemallows (Sphaeralcea ambigua) and they were blooming abundantly on the road to the jetty, I don’t think I have seen so many of them in full bloom before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,26,5347],"tags":[6506,6508,6510,6513,4098,6505,6507,6511,4302,6514,3912,6509,2291,6512,6504,6502,3896,4307],"class_list":["post-52207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-wildflowers","tag-apricot-globe-mallow","tag-apricot-mallow","tag-arid","tag-bees","tag-desert","tag-desert-globemallow","tag-desert-mallow","tag-drought-tolerant","tag-native","tag-native-bees","tag-nectar","tag-orange-wildflowers","tag-perennial","tag-pollen","tag-sphaeralcea-ambigua","tag-spiral-jetty","tag-wildflower","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/desert-globemallow-blossoms-mia-mcpherson-1585.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dA3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47730,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/17\/streambank-globemallow-pretty-in-pink\/","url_meta":{"origin":52207,"position":0},"title":"Streambank Globemallow – Pretty in Pink","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Streambank Globemallow has a few common names including Wild Hollyhock, Mountain Hollyhock, Mountain Globemallow and Streambank Wild Hollyhock","rel":"","context":"In "Clark County"","block_context":{"text":"Clark County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/idaho\/clark-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Streambank Globemallow in Idaho, Clark County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/streambank-globemallow-idaho-mia-mcpherson-5743.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/streambank-globemallow-idaho-mia-mcpherson-5743.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/streambank-globemallow-idaho-mia-mcpherson-5743.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57336,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/19\/utahs-west-desert-in-bloom\/","url_meta":{"origin":52207,"position":1},"title":"Utah’s West Desert In Bloom","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Native or introduced these purple wildflowers were a joy for me to see and photograph in the West Desert of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Tooele County"","block_context":{"text":"Tooele County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/tooele-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sky Island Mountains and a wildflower bloom, West Desert, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/west-desert-wildflower-bloom-mia-mcpherson-9975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/west-desert-wildflower-bloom-mia-mcpherson-9975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/west-desert-wildflower-bloom-mia-mcpherson-9975.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/west-desert-wildflower-bloom-mia-mcpherson-9975.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68754,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/21\/photographing-blooming-glacier-lilies\/","url_meta":{"origin":52207,"position":2},"title":"Photographing Blooming Glacier Lilies","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoyed my journey to photograph the Glacier Lilies yesterday, it was quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. No news, no negativity, and not thinking about what a mess our world is in helped me to de-stress.","rel":"","context":"In "Tooele County"","block_context":{"text":"Tooele County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/tooele-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blooming Glacier Lily - Also known as Yellow Avalanche Lily, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/glacier-lily-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-0879.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/glacier-lily-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-0879.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/glacier-lily-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-0879.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/glacier-lily-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-0879.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105668,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/26\/blooming-prickly-poppies-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":52207,"position":3},"title":"Blooming Prickly Poppies In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Prickly Poppies are one of my favorite summer wildflowers. I find these poppies in desert habitats, most often in the foothills of sky island mountain ranges.","rel":"","context":"In "Flatbud Prickly Poppy"","block_context":{"text":"Flatbud Prickly Poppy","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/trees-shrubs-and-flowers\/wildflowers\/flatbud-prickly-poppy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flatbud Prickly Poppies in bloom, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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