Sego Lily, June 15, 2019

Calochortus Nuttali, otherwise known as the Sego Lily and sometimes the Mariposa Lily. It is the official state flower of Utah. I'm still rehabbing from back surgery and to gain strength I go on short walks as suggested by my Doctor. I alternate my routes between hilly and flat. My hilly workouts have been a slow, old-man shuffle up Meridian Peak (elevation 5,940 feet). From Tunnels Park it's about 2 miles round trip with a vertical rise of about 700 vertical feet. My pace is pathetic, over 30 minute miles, which is tough to swallow. Before surgery I could run up Meridian at a 10 minute mile pace, but even at my slow pace it feels wonderful to use my legs and lungs again. I've always taken deep breathing for granted, it's often uncomfortable or even painful, but after two weeks on my butt, watching TV and knitting (yes, I'm now a knitter), feeling my lungs fully expand is truly a joyful, almost euphoric feeling.

The exercise though is nothing compared to current Sego Lily bloom. The upper third of Meridian Peak is currently carpeted with Sego's, and it is stunning! This year's bloom is much more prolific and widespread than I can ever remember.  Sego's are not rare but their blooms feel rare. They are only visible for a few weeks each year so it's exciting when I see them each spring. I'm a Sego Lily nerd, maybe because the blooms are so short lived. Each flower is a delicate, creamy-white grouping of three or four petals with purple and yellow deep inside the cup, a beautiful contrast of color that defies the harsh, dry ground where they grow. They open and then almost immediately begin to dry and whither. They are not tall, about 12 inches on average, so they are often concealed by grass or Sage or Gamble Oak, which just adds to their mystic. They seem to avoid attention like a shy schoolboy.  This year's Sego bloom has come a full month later than the the previous ten years (I log it in my running journal) due to the long, cool wet spring in northern Utah this year. On the Lake Bonneville shoreline, between 5,000 and 7,000 feet, they usually bloom in May, so this year's timing is an anomaly.  I've also seen them bloom in late August at much higher elevations, over 9,000 feet, but those high elevation blooms are truly rare, maybe a flower to two in hidden in rocky outcrops, and never in the numbers now blooming on Meridian.

 The Sego Lily's will soon be gone, go walk the foothills and you won't be sorry.

View south from Meridian Peak of the Central Wasatch.

The high points, (l-r) Dromedary Peak, Sunrise (sometimes called O'Sulivan's), Broads Fork Twins, and The Pfeiferhorn on the far right.

High points (l-r) Chipman Peak, Thunder Mountain North Peak, Thunder Mountain South Peak, Bighorn Peak and Lone Peak.

Sego's seem out of place given their surroundings. What a contrast they are to the status-quo flora of the high desert foothills of the Wasatch.

Evening Primrose often bloom along side Sego's.

Central Wasatch and the Beck Street antennas.

Sego's everywhere, hiding in the grass and Sage.