Bloom Reports from the Anza-Borrego Desert: 2020-2021
Fig. 1. View of an unnamed wash near the Villager Peak Trail, from 4 January 2020, by Tom Chester. Click on the photo for a larger version showing Lute Ridge at middle left; and Clark Dry Lake, Coyote Mountain, and the San Ysidro Mountains in the distance.
Summary as of 12 January 2021
There continue to be "flowers few" in most places in the Borrego Desert below 3000 feet now. On most hikes, expect to see only a handful of plants with any blooms at all, from typically just six to ten species, even in wet areas, like Coyote Creek Second and Third Crossing. Most areas look very dry, as seen in Fig. 1.
The only exception is the sandy area in San Felipe Creek and its tributaries from the Texas Dip on Borrego Springs Road to four miles east or so, where there are 13 to 18 species in bloom, including hundreds of plants of Dicoria, Palafoxia, and Psorothamnus emoryi.
Fortunately, the desert is still a wonderful place to be at this time of year, with comfortable temperatures and fascinating plants, even if most of them are not blooming. And "flowers few" makes it more like a Treasure Hunt to find the species that are in bloom. Tip: look in washes, along roadsides, and other places that might have received extra runoff, such as among boulders. Even in a dry year, many shrubs will bloom on schedule. For example, we observed the first Bahiopsis parishii blooming along S22 in Culp Valley on 11 January 2021.
As of 12 January 2021, there have been 45 observations of 27 species in bloom since 1 January 2021 posted at iNat. The most commonly-posted species in bloom are the usual suspects: desert lavender, chuparosa, bladderpod, and black-banded rabbitbrush. (Note: the linked query will only find iNat observations that are annotated as "flowering". We and others are trying to keep the annotations up to date, at least while there aren't too many observations to keep up with.)
The desert floor in and to the east of Borrego Springs did not receive any significant monsoonal rain this summer, and so far it has received essentially no winter rainfall. Borrego Springs at 500 feet elevation received just 0.04" on 7 and 8 November 2020, and just 0.01" on 28 December 2020.
In areas west of Borrego Springs that got some rainfall, we have seen very little annual germination so far, with most annual germination being of non-native weeds. Even some reliable shrub bloomers at this time of year, such as Prunus fremontii, have only weak blooms so far, with some plants still flowerless and almost leafless.
Rainfall increased dramatically to the west, with Ranchita at 4008 feet reporting 1.07" on 7 and 8 November 2020 and 0.86" on 28 December 2020. But elevations above 3000 feet are unlikely to see any native annual germination or other plant growth until temperatures begin to warm up in February and March.
The best source to look for places that have flowers is the crowd-sourced iNaturalist. You can get almost daily updates on what is blooming, or not blooming, in the Anza-Borrego Desert, as well as where species were found. Click on "Filters" and select a date range to see the observations from that period. For example, here are all the observations made on 15 December 2020 and later, which totaled 852 observations of 210 species as of 12 January 2021. Each observation gives the date and time of observation, and the latitude and longitude for each observation, which is plotted on a map so you can see where it was from (note that rare species have obscured coordinates).
A quick perusal of the recent posts at iNat show that there are more dead annuals from last year posted than blooming plants from this year.
Bloom Reports
The latest bloom reports are given first (i.e., the reports are in inverse order of time).
11 January 2021. Tom Chester hiked a four mile loop from S22 / Palo Verde Wash, north outside of the wash, east to just short of Smoke Tree Wash, south to Palo Verde Wash, and back by Palo Verde Wash. There were just five species in bloom.
4 January 2021. Tom Chester hiked a six mile loop from the Villager Peak Trailhead, up to the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains, and then around Lute Ridge. There were no plants blooming in most areas (see Fig. 1). The sandy areas near Lute Ridge contributed a total of 24 plants of eight species in bloom.
30 December 2020. Tom Chester hiked a seven mile loop at the southeast base of Coyote Mountain, and found just 22 plants of five species in bloom.
26 December 2020. Don Rideout botanized the lowermost 3.5 miles of Nolina Canyon and Pinyon Canyon, and found six species in bloom. Five of those species had just a few plants in bloom, but there were still a hundred or so plants of Ericameria paniculata in bloom.
22 December 2020. Tom Chester botanized a 4.5 mile loop on the north side of Borrego Mountain, west of Buttes Pass Road, and found about 40 plants of 11 species in bloom.
18 December 2020. Tom Chester botanized a 4.5 mile loop of two tributaries of San Felipe Creek east of Borrego Springs Road, and found the best bloom of any area so far this year: 18 species in bloom, with hundreds of plants of Dicoria, Palafoxia, and Psorothamnus emoryi in bloom. The other species had one to 15 plants in bloom.
14 December 2020. Tom Chester botanized an 8 mile loop of two tributaries of San Felipe Creek east of Borrego Springs Road, and found 15 species in bloom, with hundreds of plants of Dicoria, Palafoxia, and Psorothamnus emoryi in bloom. The other species had one to ten plants in bloom.
9 December 2020. Tom Chester botanized a 5 mile loop in Cactus Valley, finding just three species in bloom.
4 December 2020. Tom Chester botanized an 8 mile loop in San Felipe Creek below The Narrows, finding 13 species in bloom. The surprise was finding 30 plants in bloom of ground-cherry, Physalis crassifolia, and 15 blooming plants of Palafoxia. The other species had one to ten plants in bloom.
30 November 2020. Tom Chester botanized a 5 mile loop just east of Yaqui Flat, finding the usual six species in bloom, with 44 total plants in bloom.
25 November 2020. Don Rideout and Tom Chester hiked separately in the area east of Yaqui Flat and north of SR78, doing somewhat different loops. Don found four species in bloom in his hike: Ditaxis lanceolata, Eriogonum inflatum, ocotillo and chuparosa. Tom found six species in bloom: 10 plants of Ericameria paniculata (see Fig. 1), and one plant of Eriogonum wrightii var. nodosum, Fouquieria splendens, Justicia californica, Peritoma arborea, and Stephanomeria pauciflora.
24 November 2020. Don Rideout reports five species in bloom, Ditaxis lanceolata, Ditaxis neomexicana, Eriogonum inflatum, ocotillo, and chuparosa, in an unnamed canyon north of Dry Canyon, at the bottom end where it meets the valley floor.
23 November 2020. Don Rideout reports only a single species in bloom in Borrego Palm Canyon up to the alternate trail, Eriogonum inflatum. There was limited germination of a few annual species, Phacelia distans and Brassica tournefortii.
22 November 2020. Don Rideout reports seeing three species in bloom (ocotillo, chuparosa, and desert lavender) in a short hike up Dry Canyon from the bottom.
11 November 2020. Tom Chester reports only two species in bloom in Hellhole Canyon up to mile 2.0, five plants of Eriogonum inflatum and a single plant of Peritoma arborea.
Links to Other Webpages, etc. on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms
Anza-Borrego Wildflowers Bloom Report by Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen, often with daily wildflower updates.
iNaturalist observations in the Borrego Desert since 1 December 2019 (click on "Filters" to change the dates)
Wildflower Updates from the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park official site, with wildflower information on it. When they start producing current wildflower reports, click on the link near the top with the word Update, which might be updated weekly.
DesertUSA Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Reports
Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute Wildflowers (link will be supplied when they create their page this year) and their Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Hotline: (760)767-4684. "Information on this recording is updated regularly."
Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline (Reports begin the first Friday in March)