The southern California wildflower season is similar to the New England fall foliage season, but differs in three outstanding ways:
- the geographic extent of the bloom is much larger
- the time spread is much longer
- the variety of what you can see is much greater
The Geographic Extent
- from Needles on the California - Arizona border in the eastern Mojave Desert to the Channel Islands west of Santa Barbara
- from the beaches of San Diego next to the Mexican border in the south to the Sierran foothills of Kern County in the north
- from Big Bear Valley at seven thousand feet in the high San Bernardino Mountains to the coastal lowlands of Malibu Lagoon to below sea level in Death Valley
The Time Spread
- The wildflower season usually begins in FEBRUARY at the lowest elevations at the lowest latitudes, that is the COLORADO DESERT
- Next, the low elevation COASTAL areas begin reporting flowers in early MARCH,
- followed by the FOOTHILLS in MID MARCH,
- then the MOJAVE DESERT [high desert] in early APRIL,
- and finally, in MAY, the HIGH MOUNTAINS report their blooms.
The Variety [not just trees!]
- ephemerals [annuals] in the desert, carpets of color, like sand verbena and California poppy
- shrubs with masses of bloom, like California lilac and manzanita
- perennials like purple nightshade and virgin's bower
- fire followers like the big flowered phacelia
- cacti like beavertail with bright magenta blooms
Effects of the weather
2001 (as of March 15)
- late-season March rains and cool temperatures have delayed or prolonged bloom in shrubs
- hoaryleaf ceanothus which usually begins in late January is only just budding out
- currants and gooseberries, both winter-bloomers, on the other hand, are still blooming, specifically, golden currant
- desert annuals are blooming more profusely this year than last
- winter-blooming flowers in the mustard family are still being reported in large numbers; it is a fantastic year for milkmaids and tansy mustard, the native Californian mustard
- most foothill areas (around 2000 feet) are delayed
2002
- sparse bloom everywhere in southern California; low rainfall this season
2003 (as of the beginning of March)
- winter blooming annuals, especially the Brassicaceae, flowered on very short stems, even though November and December rains brought green to the hillsides, it did not rain in January
- the low deserts are not reporting great carpets of flowers
- the southern Sierras, both sides, seems to have benefited from the storm tracks so far this season
- sporadic February rains have made the mustards and grasses very lush covering up the early native wildflowers
- lupines and lotuses seem to have benefited from the timing of the rains
Go to:
Copyright © 2001-2003 by Jane Strong.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce any or all of this page as long as credit is given to me at this source:
http://tchester.org/sgm/conditions/blooms/wildflower_season.html
Comments and feedback: Jane Strong
Last update: 10 March 2003.