Another wildflower update – I’m just so excited about the rain! I’m in Monterey on the California coast and it’s raining now, destroying any chances for me to see the eclipse. It rained and blew so hard earlier on this week that the power was out for 24 hours. I had to laugh – I wanted to spend a little time on the Pacific Coast in winter so that I could experience the big storms and watch the wild winter waves. Be careful what you ask for…
Desert Paintbrush
What’s got me really excited, though, is that some of these storms have made it over or around the mountains and are reaching the desert.
Rainfall totals in Death Valley are still grim. But it IS a big park, and the only place they report totals from is Furnace Creek. The southern part of the park has been receiving rain. I camped at the southern end of the Greenwater Valley in mid-December and there were sprouts coming up, and green fuzz between Jubilee and Salsbury Passes.
Broad Flowered Gilia
Mojave is getting green patches, but not much going on there yet. They DID get over an inch of rain in early December, so there are possibilities for later in the spring.
Joshua Tree should be GREAT this year, There are already good flowers happening there, and it will get better and better.
Box Canyon Road near Mecca, my favorite way to get from Joshua Tree to Anza Borrego is full of blooms, now, too. But there’s one problem – the road is gone, washed away in flash floods. Don’t know if it will be repaired by spring or not.
Desert Globemallow
Anza-Borrego is forecasting an awesome year, too. They also got over an inch in the early December storm, half an inch New Year’s Eve, and a shower a week since then. They are already reporting some flowers, probably triggered by an October storm. Expect the bigger bloom to start in about a month.
Desert Bouquet
I want you to be excited, too, so here’s a few desert wildflower pix to get you going. If you’d like some of these images as wall art or printed on merchandise, check out my site at Fine Art America.
It’s been raining in the desert. There are possibilities.
El Nino weather patterns generally bring moisture to the Southwest, and this is an El Nino year. Although it’s way too early to know for sure, things seem to be shaping up for a decent bloom this spring.
Springtime in the desert.
Most places have gotten a good soaker sometime in the last two months. Here are my predictions:
Death Valley
Well, it IS the driest place in North America, after all. Although some parts of this huge park received rain, there has not been a big enough storm to trigger germination. However, there has been more rain than last year. It’s still early. A wet winter could make a difference. But don’t count on one. I don’t expect a big year, but I think there will be patches of great wildflowers. You just might have to hunt for your floral treasures here this year.
Desert Gold
Mojave National Preserve
Parts of Mojave have received over an inch of rain in December, most of it in one storm! If we get a few more good rains, evenly spaced into January and February Mojave should have a decent display of wildflowers.
Canterbury Bells
Joshua Tree National Park
Put your vacation dollars here! Well over 2 inches of rain has fallen in J Tree over the last couple of months. One big storm in mid-October yielded over an inch and a half of precipitation. The totals so far are nearly as much, or possibly more, rain than Joshua Tree had at this time two years ago. (Some of the data for this year is missing.) 2017 was a great flower year in the southern part of the park. If the rains continue, the flowers may be just as exceptional this year.
Box Canyon Road in the Mecca Hills near Indio
Coachella Valley
Over an inch of rain has fallen on Palm Springs so far this season. At this time last year, none had fallen. It’s not a lot, I’m not predicting great things, but there will be wildflowers.
Ajo Lily
Anza Borrego State Park
Borrego Springs has received 1.76 inches of rain so far this fall. It’s looking good. It will take a lot more to make a superbloom, but I am predicting a fair-to-good wildflower season for Anza Borrego next spring.
There are still a lot of variables. At this point it’s a guessing game. No matter where you go in the California desert, prospects are looking much more hopeful than last year, though. This year, there will be flowers, Time will tell just how many and where to find the best blooms.
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.
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.
Bladderpod Mojave Preserve
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.
Desert Gold in Death Valley 1/24/18
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.
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.
Couldn’t ID this one – looks like a Senecio to me – any ideas?
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!
We’re not the only ones excited about the bloom. One denizen of the desert, the Desert Tortoise, is especially delighted with springtime. That’s because they EAT flowers! Check out the “milk mustache” of green that this dude is sporting!
Right now they are on the move, looking for the next delectable dinner, maybe even looking for love!
Which leads me to my cautionary tale of the week – please be aware of the desert tortoise! He’s pretty slow sometimes (ever hear of the tortoise and the hare?), but he won’t win his race if you run him over! Watch out for this guy if you’re out there in southern California checking out the flowers. They are out and about, and easy to run over if you’re driving fast and not paying close attention.
Lots of good tortoise munchies in this meadow!
We found this tortoise trying to cross the road in southern Joshua Tree, and barely had time to divert a speeding truck bearing down on him. We decided we needed to help him cross the busy road or he would have next to no chance of survival.
Desert Tortoise on a busy road
This was not a decision we made lightly, because contact with humans is often fatal to tortoises, even if they are not being flattened by a speeding truck. If you see a desert tortoise, do not pick him up. If you absolutely have to, to save his life, do not use your bare hands. People carry germs that are transmitted to tortoises. They may get sick and die. We used a newspaper to pick him up so that our hands did not contact his shell.
Being handled by humans can literally scare the piss out of them. This is also deadly, as they need the water in their bladder to survive until the next rainstorm. We kept him low to the ground when we moved him so that we wouldn’t frighten him TOO badly. It seemed to work. He held his water. Whew!
Wildflower update
Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)
Chia (Salvia columbariae)
Here’s a flower update for Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua Trees are blooming!
So are yucca, but the real show is happening in the Lower Colorado Desert section of the park, especially south of the Cottonwood Visitor Center.
This area is at its peak now. I’m especially impressed by the Canterbury Bells. In my opinion they are the most beautiful flowers in the park.
The meadows are awash with a rainbow of color. The indigo shades of Canterbury Bells and Chia complement the golden hues of Bladderpod and Desert Gold Poppies.
Taller flowers float over a groundcover of creamy Brown-eyed Evening Primroses and white Cryptantha, accented by lighter purple lupines and phacelia.
Bigelow Monkeyflower (Mimulus bigelovii) and Desert Gold Poppy (Eshscholzia glyptosperma)
Get out and walk around. You’ll see even more diversity. You may even find a splash of the brightest pink, the exquisite blooms of Bigelow Monkeyflowers.
The Lower Colorado Desert is peaking right now. Get out soon or you’ll miss it! Stay tuned to this blog for an update on the phenomenal flowers in Anza Borrego State Park, coming soon!
It’s raining in the desert! From Saguaro to Death Valley, it’s pouring. This is good news for wildflowers this spring.
Desert Hyacinth (Dichelostemma capitatum), Gila Box Riparian Area, AZ
Early season flowers blooming in eastern Arizona include Desert Hyacinth, Brittlebush, Bladderpod, and Mexican Gold Poppy. I found all of these in the Gila Box Riparian Area near Safford.
Gordon’s Bladderpod (Lesquerrella gordonii)
Further west in the Sonoran Desert, look for Fairy Duster, Brittlebush, and Desert Marigold.
Fairy Duster (Calliandra eriophylla), Saguaro National Park, AZ
In the California desert, exciting things are starting to happen. Anza Borrego is set to have an incredible season, with five inches of precipitation in two months! Ajo Lilies are beginning to bloom. There are even some fishhook cactus blooming in remote canyons. You can find Sand Verbena and Brown-eyed Evening Primrose from Anza Borrego to southern Death Valley. Look for Anza Borrego to peak between the last week of February and the middle of March. If you can’t make it then, the cactus will be blooming from mid-March through April.
Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)
In Joshua Tree, it continues to rain. Things are greening up. Flowers are beginning to bloom in the southern end of the park.
Mojave National Preserve is getting a lot of moisture, too. Can anyone tell me what’s happening with the flowers there? I believe it will be a great flower season there, any day now.
Desert Sand Verbena (Abronia villosa)
Death Valley is getting SLAMMED with rain. Many park roads are closed. But flowers are blooming in the southern end of the park. From the Ibex Dunes to Jubilee Pass, you can find good blooms in Death Valley even now. If you’d like to see what the rain is like there, check out this picture on their Facebook page.
It’s starting to happen, folks! Make plans and get out there! Happy flower hunting!
