May, 2024 – Sue Niazi McDevitt
When spring arrived in Baja, I roamed the coastal scrublands around my home in Bajamar to see how many different wildflowers I could find. If it had been a particularly wet winter, there would be surprises in abundance.
I would bring home a stem of each one and render their blossoms in watercolors.
Baja California nightshades (above left) grew in clumps close to the ground and were usually a rare find. The flowers varied from light lavender to deep purple.
The San Diego sunflowers (above right) were more prolific and grew waist high. Their sunny faces gave me a lift on the gray sky days of May next to the Pacific Ocean (known as “May gray”).
California deerweed (above left) had broomlike branches and its soft brown and yellow flowers made it a weed that anyone could love.
Buckwheat (above right) was a common bush and the cotton ball like flowers dried to brittle brown tufts in the summer.
There were several different mallow bushes (above left) in coastal Baja – I viewed some growing along the sides of highways. Flowers varied from white to pink to apricot.
Agaves (above right) grew in profusion in my surroundings, even hanging from cliffs. When the central stalk bloomed and dried out, the entire plant would eventually die and be replaced by sprouts growing at the base. They are sometimes called Century Plants because it takes such a long time for them to bloom.
Orange nasturtium vines (above left) rambled over other lower growing plants and rocks and sometimes covered pathways all winter long – the more rain, the bigger they grew and the more they rambled. The heat of summer dried them out and they completely disappeared until the following winter.
I was smitten by the simple beauty of the San Diego sunflowers (above right) and other members of the daisy family and painted them in a variety of settings.
I planted sunflower seeds in my garden in Baja every year. This one was a giant variety that grabbed my attention at a winery in the Guadalupe Valley. I pulled a chair up close to the plant and tried to capture in watercolor how the rays of the sun hitting the petals and casting shadows on the leaves. I’m still a nut for sunflowers.
Wild datura plants were domesticated into upright bush shapes and commonly called trumpet flowers.Wild datura plants were domesticated into upright bush shapes and commonly called trumpet flowers.
Before I moved to Baja, I had only seen plump red pomegranate fruits at the store. When I found a pomegranate tree, bearing these flowers in different stages of development, I was awed.
I loved the profusion of hibiscus I grew up with in tropical south Florida and was amazed to see how well they adapted to coastal Baja.
I have been entranced with wildflowers and garden flowers my entire life. They continue to be my favorite subject for painting.