August Flower Journal — Yosemite and Sierra Mountain Wildflowers

Aug 27

We visited Yosemite National Park June 19-21, 2026. During our short trip to explored Mariposa Grove, Yosemite Valley and then ended our trip with a half day drive along Tioga Road with stops at Olmstead Point, Tenya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows. While the focus of the trip was hikes and waterfalls, I took the time to take in some of the native wildflowers that were in bloom during our visit. Enjoy the video and photos below of 10 beautiful Sierra Mountain wildflowers we fell in love with!

White-stemmed Lupine

Lupinus albicaulis

Found in the Mariposa Grove area of the park, next to the giant sequoias, this hairy, upright perennial often tops 39” in height. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 10 leaflets up to 2.75” long. The flower spikes run up to 17” and carry whorls of purple, yellowish, or whitish flowers, each with a distinctive sickle-shaped keel.

Brewer's Monardella

Monardella breweri

Found on the Mist Trail, between Vernal and Nevada Falls, this hairy annual herb has a branching, upright stem that reaches about 26”. The oval leaves grow up to 1.75” long and sit opposite each other on the stem. Each flower head is a cluster of hairy pink blooms, just over a third of an inch long, cupped in stiff, pointed, purplish bracts up to 1.25” wide.

Showy Milkweed

Asclepias speciosa

Found in Cook's Meadow down in the Yosemite Valley this upright perennial that can reach 47” tall. The pointed, elongated leaves run 4”-8” long and grow in opposite pairs along the stem. Snap a leaf or stem and milky sap seeps out — the plant's signature trait.

Brewer's Lupine

Lupinus breweri

Found on Tioga Road this lupine is short with a woody base, quite low to the ground compared to most lupines. Each palmate leaf is made of 5 to 10 small, woolly leaflets about 1” long. The flowers are blue or purple with a white or yellow spot on the banner petal, packed into a dense raceme just a couple of inches tall.

Giant Red Paintbrush

Castilleja miniata

Found on Tioga Road this perennial herb grows 5”-31” tall with lance-shaped, pointed leaves coated in fine hairs. What looks like the "flower" is actually a cluster of bright red to pale orange bracts — the true flowers are small and tucked between them. Common in meadows and moist open ground at mid-to-high elevations.

Mountain Blue Penstemon

Penstemon laetus

Also found on Tioga Road this upright perennial reaches about 30” tall, with a base that turns woody over time. The linear to lance-shaped leaves run up to 4” long. Its wide-mouthed, tubular blue or purple flowers reach up to 1.5”lo ng, glandular on the outside and mostly smooth inside.

Mountain Jewelflower

Streptanthus tortuosus

Found on Tioga Road this flower is a biennial or short-lived perennial, hairless and often waxy, ranging from just a couple of inches to over 39” tall depending on conditions. The oval basal leaves sit on winged stalks, while leaves higher up the stem grow narrower and sometimes clasp it — turning yellow with age. Flowers are spaced along the upper stem, each with an urn-shaped calyx in shades of purple or greenish yellow and four petals emerging from the tip.

Mountain Pride

Penstemon newberryi

Found near Olmstead Point (and several locations along Tioga Road, this flower is a bushy, mat-forming subshrub growing up to 12” tall. Most of the toothed, oval leaves cluster at the base of the plant, 0.5”-1.5” long. Showy magenta, funnel-shaped flowers up to 1.25” long appear in a glandular cluster, with curly hairs lining the throat of each bloom.

Frosted Buckwheat

Eriogonum incanum

Found on Tioga Road this mat-forming perennial reaching up to 8” tall and 12” wide. Its woolly, gray-green leaves form a soft carpet over sandy soil or rock. Dense, rounded clusters of yellow or red flowers rise on short stalks above the foliage.

Meadow Penstemon

Penstemon rydbergii

I found this flower in Tuolumne Meadows. It grows from a woody base with two kinds of stems: short leafy ones and taller flowering ones, usually 8”-28” but occasionally reaching nearly 47”. The stems can run straight up, curve upward from the ground, or trail along it, often turning redder toward the top as the season goes on.

Keith Bretzius