Southern California is poised for another wildflower ‘superbloom’

While it may be too early to predict exactly how the season will unfold, experts say conditions are ripe for another spectacular wildflower “superbloom” in California.

The state enjoyed (endured) an especially wet February, and state measurements show precipitation is above average in many regions, including Los Angeles County, which is home to the popular Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve.

Last year, Californians enjoyed an epic superbloom after the historic winter rain and snowpack.

“Cold nighttime temperatures have kept growth slow for the poppies,” the Reserve recently posted on its Facebook page. “Fiddlenecks stretch up and unfurl spirals of yellow flowers. Patches of pink, red stem filaree are tinting the hillsides. But mostly, everything is still growing and hasn’t opened their blossoms to the world.”

With warmer temperatures arriving, the Reserve says we should soon know how brilliant the spring bloom will be. The Reserve offers a live webcam of its rolling hills which, on Monday, showed very limited color.

“Time to wait and be patient for the weather.”

The wildflower season generally lasts from mid-February through May.

The nonprofit Theodore Payne Foundation offered this update for wildflower viewing on public lands in Southern and Central California:

Urban Los Angeles:

The torrential rains in February made the Habitat Gardens at Elizabeth Learning Center resplendent with vernal pools and late winter wildflowers! Colorful beauties in the Desert Habitat Garden include catclaw acacia (Senegalia greggii), creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), desert lavender (Condea emoryi), apricot mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), bladderpod (Cleomella arborea), brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), Hartweg’s climbing milkweed (Funastrum heterophyllum), desert bluebells (Phacelia campanularia), bird’s eye gilia (Gilia tricolor) and Coulter’s lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus).

Inland Empire:

Still early for most wildflowers on the Crafton Hills Preserve but hiking along the Crafton Hills Ridge Trail you can get an idea what it will be like soon. Not far from the trailhead at Crafton Hills College (CHC), hoaryleaf (Ceanothus crassifolius) and woollyleaf ceanothus (Ceanothus tomentosus) are both blooming and can be seen covering slopes, along with a fair amount of distant phacelia (Phacelia distans), miner’s lettuce (Claytonia erfoliate), rancher’s fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii ssp. Intermedia), and golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum).

Orange County:

At The Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach, the paths are lined with golden California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) swaying gracefully in the coastal breeze. The Nature Center is divided into different Southern California habitat types representing chaparral, coastal sage scrub, desert, riparian, foothill woodland, oak woodland, redwood forest, yellow pine forest and Channel Islands.

What California’s wildflower bloom looks like from space

San Gabriel Mountain Region:

Placerita Canyon Nature Center requires more sunny and warm days to fully rouse spring wildflowers from their slumber. The canyon is cool, shady and the creek is flowing fast.

Santa Monica Mountains:

The giant coreopsis (Leptosyne gigantea) is blooming on ocean-facing, sunny slopes rising above Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Keep your eyes focused on that famously treacherous road, however. One of the best places to safely pull off the highway and enjoy walking with the yellow giants is at Leo Carrillo State Park.

Southern Sierra Foothills:

In the southern Sierra foothill woodland east of Visalia at 1,000 – 1,400’ elevation, the iconic blue oaks and redbuds are revealing new leaves and flowers, a sure sign spring is coming to the foothills.

Low Desert Region:

If you are descending into Anza Borrego Desert State Park via S22, you’ll notice a paucity of color in the adjacent landscape. Only a handful of brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) and a few other species of desert shrubs are in bloom. The colorful annuals will come when the weather warms.

Theodore Payne Foundation urges those who want to enjoy the flower blooms to stay on designated trails, be respectful of others, not pick flowers or trample on them, and try to visit on weekdays or off-peak hours, if possible, when trails are less crowded.

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