Death Valley wildflowers Archives ~ Rambling ranger

April is not a very colorful month in Alaska. It’s Breakup, that weird season in between winter and spring, and frankly, breakup is messy and not so attractive. Morning ice skating rinks give way to afternoon mud bogs and slush piles . Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Postholing through the unevenly melting snowpack is tiring and tedious. The predominant colors are brown, gray, white, and dead grass yellow. The only pastel is the sky on the occasional sunny day when it’s not raining, sleeting or snowing.

Even so, we’re all celebrating. The thermometer actually rises above freezing and soon, soon, soon the snow will be gone and summer will be here. Already the days are long and the twilight lingers.

But I miss color. I miss my wildflowers. Although I’ve spent a lot of winters in Alaska in the past, for over a dozen years I’ve been snowbirding it, heading south to the desert or the West Coast for the winter. It’s a lifestyle I love.

Briceberg River Road — My favorite Sierra campground along the Merced River.

Last year at this time I was in lockdown in Las Vegas, one of the most surreal experiences of my life. The colors of April, found in the wastelands on the outskirts of town, were my salvation during this insane interlude.

Prickly Poppy — Wildflowers from the Vegas Wastelands

Purple Mat — Wildflowers from the Vegas Wastelands

Most years, though, I spend the month of March immersed in the wildflowers of the California desert. Then as the flowers move up in elevation in April, I follow along, chasing the bloom.

April is also the month that the cactus are in bloom.

By the middle of the month, heat and wind begin to take their toll on the flowers, and on me. It’s time to go North, time to go home, following the flowers.

My new favorite place to begin this journey is Carrizo Plain National Monument. The flowers grow thicker here than anywhere else I’ve ever been. It’s something to ponder, that the entire Central Valley once looked like this.

Carrizo Plains National Monument — Camping in Carrizo

From there I move on, hopscotching my way along the Sierra’s western foothills, following the path of the Gold Rush on the trail of Highway 49, with a drive through the Yosemite valley along the way.

I’ll head west to the redwoods in Mendocino County and enjoy that other color of April, green, for a day or two on my way to Oregon.

I might visit friends in southern Oregon in the Grant’s Pass area, an April wildflower delight indeed.

From there, time and flowers are both getting scarce. I’ve still got a few days to enjoy the coast on my way to Canada. It’s breakup in Canada, too, though, so I bomb through and reach Alaska right at the end of April – just in time for the first Pasque flowers of the season.

Thank you, Amy for this week’s Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge – the Colors of April. You’ve made me really miss my spring flowers!

So what’s gonna happen with the desert wildflowers this year? People have been asking, so I took a quick little survey of my favorite spots so I could make an educated guess. Take it with a grain of salt. Things could always change. I remember one year at Death Valley when all the experts said it was grim, too dry, don’t expect any wildflowers this spring! Then we had the rainiest February on record. It was a lovely wildflower season.

There ARE a few teeny tiny seedlings coming up in Death Valley.

Sorry to say, unless something unexpected like that happens, it will be a rather poor wildflower season due to the La Nina weather conditions we have been experiencing.

La Nina weather patterns generally mean the southwest will be hotter and dryer than normal. The northwest will be wetter and colder. This winter we have definitely seen those conditions, as anyone bogged down in the rain in Washington or praying for precipitation in southern Colorado will verify.

The California desert is a tough place to live even in a good year. This year is downright brutal.

Anza Borrego State Park — Ocotillo in Anza Borrego

Take Anza Borrego, for instance. Sorry, all the flowers bloomed last year and none are left for this year. Just kidding. There are other reasons why nothing is blooming, like heat and especially lack of rain. The state park has only received 1.1 inches of precipitation since July. There was a big storm in September in the mountains, but it didn’t even reach the valley floor. They did get one good rain in January, but it was not enough for the annuals to germinate. It’s already really hot, just under 90 degrees at the end of January. Those big fields filled with lilies, verbena and primrose last year are bone dry and dirt brown, with no little green things coming up. There ARE a few plants getting started in the far eastern reaches of the park. Word is some of the upper elevations are getting a few blossoms. Try Plum Canyon. The occasional ocotillo, brittlebush, or chuparosa (all perennials) are currently putting out a few blossoms, and they’re just getting started. You can depend on the perennials, even if the annuals take a year off.

If you are planning a wildflower trip here, make it early March and you may find more happening at the higher elevations. The valley is looking pretty dismal.

Joshua Tree is suffering under the same conditions. Brittlebush, which I’ve seen blooming randomly everywhere else in the California desert, is looking dead here, worse than just dormant. Even the leaves are all shriveled up and brown. Ray of hope – I did see a bladderpod bush and an ocotillo with blooms. Don’t expect much from the flowers here this year, though.

Surprisingly, Mojave National Preserve is actually looking better than it did last year. I saw brittlebush and bladderpod blooming here. Little green things are creating a fuzz on the sides of the road. Last year I saw nothing.

Death Valley is doing a little better. Little green seedlings are trying to get a foothold in many places. There were two storms in January here. You might call them scattered showers. Some parts of the park got a lot of rain, some none at all. The usual hotspots near Ashford Mill and the west side of Jubilee Pass are looking very sad. All dried out, no green coming up at all. The west side of Jubilee Pass through Salisbury Pass, all the way to the Greenwater Road, had a fine green fuzz on the sides of the road. Desert Gold was blooming from about MM21 through 26 on the Badwater Road, with a lot of little plants getting started. I did not see any Brown-Eyed Evening Primrose plants anywhere. This is usually one of the early bloomers. The seedlings are usually getting started by the end of January. Not a good sign.

Sand to Snow National Monument — Globemallow in Big Morongo Canyon

The wind was relentless the entire time I was there, which will dry those tender little seedlings off in a hurry. Another rain could be the maker/breaker of the wildflower season here. Expect an average year, no massive fields of flowers as far as the eye can see, but there will be flowers. This is a year to contemplate the perfection of each individual bloom. Marvel over how tough these plants must be, to bloom and share with us their beauty in spite of only an inch or so of water for the entire year!

My bet for the best place to catch desert wildflowers this year is the Coachella Valley. Although this area is also suffering a lack of rain, I saw a few different plants blooming here – brittlebush, ocotillo, sacred datura, globemallow, even a patch of sand verbena. They were the early birds, few and far between.

I would wait a couple of weeks until late February or early March. I would recommend the trails in Sand to Snow National Monument. The monument hosts quite a lot of diversity in habitats, so you may find something blooming somewhere!

Tag: Death Valley wildflowers

(Wishing For) The Colors of April

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California Desert Wildflower Forecast

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