Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Perfectly beautiful wildflowers after the storms

For desert wildflowers this year, the rains of winter were “the perfect storm,” according to Hank, a naturalist at the Anza-Borrego State Park visitor’s center in Borrego Springs.

Rains starting early, remaining slow and sustained for many weeks without becoming catastrophic, moderate temperatures and a slowly warming spring: this is the recipe for a fantastic bloom in the desert.

Years in which the desert gets massive flooding in winter will also produce excellent shows – and draw crowds from all over the world – but even without record rainfall this is proving to be an awesome spring with some wonderful surprises, and relatively small crowds.

There are the usual, but beautiful, suspects such as the perennial shrubs Chuparosa (Justicia californica) and the reliable brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) creating red and yellow, respectively, on the rocky hillsides.

Check out these and the blue carpets of bluebells coming down the grade on Highway 79 (S-22 at that point) into Borrego Springs.

And then there are the famous miles of color spreading across long washes coming down from the mountains surrounding the town.

These washes are filled with various daisies like the sweetly scented desert sunflower (Geraea canescens), dune sunflower (Helianthus niveus) and desert chicory (Rafenesquia neomexicana).

Species of primrose also find their home here such as the brown-eyed primrose (Camissonia claviformis) and the dune evening primrose (Oenothera deltoids).

However, the most eye-catching wash flower, the one that turns the vista pink-magenta to the horizon, is the sand verbena (Abronia villosa).

Among the first and last of the spring desert flowers to be in bloom, this remarkable plant always dominates its environment.

Standing in a field of sand verbena is a spiritual experience.

The seemingly never-ending color is complimented by a strong and complex perfume that fills the air. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and listen to the distant buzz of pollinating insects and birds.

On a good year like this every nook and cranny of the desert is filled with interesting spring wildflowers. Explore!

And don’t miss the “belly flowers,” the tiny blooms that stay right on the ground and must be viewed from centimeters to be appreciated.

Many of them are extraordinary if you put in the effort like the purple-red Bigelow’s monkey flower (Mimulus bigelovii) and purple mat (Nama demissum).

And before you leave the desert, go to the park visitor center and ask Hank where to find the desert lily (Hesperocallis undulata) in bloom.

This is the best year for lilies I have personally seen. Many of them are already three feet tall and may reach four or five feet before finishing their bloom.

This is an uncommon plant of exceptional beauty that you don’t want to miss.

In most years the desert lily is less than a foot tall. Seeing it in its full glory is a rare treat.

It wasn’t only the desert that experienced a perfect storm this year.

On the coast, in chaparral fire country, we not only had good rains but they followed a summer of fires.

This is the perfect combination of events to spark a bloom of “fire followers,” plants that either don’t bloom until after fires or bloom best following fires.

In those areas hit hardest by fire, out of the ashes is rising a glory of color like Noah’s rainbow after the flood.

The I-15 corridor near Fallbrook where the Rice Canyon Fire occurred is perhaps the best example right now.

The hillsides there are covered in purple from bluebells (Phacelia grandiflora), gold from poppies (Escscholtzia californica), white from popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys sp.) and pink from redmaids (Calandrinia ciliata) and Lupine spires (Lupinus sp.).

In the flat areas goldfields (Lasthenia sp.) are carpeting acres in yellow, or gold if you are feeling poetic.

The list goes on. It is truly an explosion of color and diversity.

Growing out of the fields of annual wildflowers are also the regenerating trees and shrubs.

Laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) and Mexican elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) are stump-sprouters – that is, they are adapted to recover from fire by re-sprouting from the root crown.

Oaks are re-sprouting from their branches.

The wild cucumber (Marah macrocarpus) is going nuts covering open ground and barbed-wire fences alike.

Though they haven’t popped yet, don’t miss the wildflowers of Mount Palomar and Lake Henshaw later in the season, perhaps in three to four weeks.

Lake Henshaw is famous for its ground-huggers like the lovely baby blue-eyes (Nemophilia menzesii) and goldfields. These have selective advantage in grazed grasslands where everything taller is munched down.

And Mt. Palomar experienced heavy burns this year and should have a remarkable bloom.

South Grade Road always has a wonderful wildflower show, sometimes the only reliable wildflower spot south of San Jacinto in dry years.

This past year South Grade burned and what will happen is anybody’s guess! Believe me, you won’t want to miss it. Go to http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca.html#anchor007999 for wildflower occurrences around Riverside and San Diego counties.

 

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