Giant coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) flowers are two-to-three inches across with fern-like leaves clustered on tall fleshy stalks. These drought-tolerant perennial asters are among Spring's earliest wildflowers brightening exposed coastal dunes and rocky slopes from Baja California and the Channel Islands to Central Southern California. With their wild grass and prickly pear cactus companions, these were photographed at the northern edge of the Santa Monica Mountains near Point Mugu State Park as an early morning fog lifts. The tall stalks on the left are dried yucca flower spikes from the prior year's bloom.

Giant coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) flowers are two-to-three inches across with fern-like leaves clustered on tall fleshy stalks. These drought-tolerant perennial asters are among Spring's earliest wildflowers brightening exposed coastal dunes and rocky slopes from Baja California and the Channel Islands to Central Southern California. With their wild grass and prickly pear cactus companions, these were photographed at the northern edge of the Santa Monica Mountains near Point Mugu State Park as an early morning fog lifts. The tall stalks on the left are dried yucca flower spikes from the prior year's bloom.