California Wildflowers

A good temperate or desert wildflower bloom requires a very wet Fall followed by consistent soil moisture until the actual Spring bloom. Consequently, outstanding bloom years are relatively rare. This year, many California wildflower locations received the necessary early and then periodic rain, but interspersed short windy and warm periods were problematic, so we waited with bated breath. When reports of an excellent bloom in Death Valley started appearing in late February, I decided to head down there. By the time I got there, the media was exploding with accounts of a "once-in-a-decade superbloom." While I found some very nice wildflower fields, they were few and far between and difficult to photograph well because of their locations and a strong, constant wind. But it was amazing to see areas of Death Valley's normally bleak, rocky terrain covered by plants and flowers. When the flowers started wilting after a few days, it was time to move on. But where should I go?

Since I was in a "wildflower state of mind," I then considered visiting one of California's often reliable wildflower locations: Anza-Borrego, Antelope Valley, or Carrizo Plain. Anza-Borrego's flowers were average this year and past their peak bloom. Antelope Valley's poppies weren't showing (yet?). But Carrizo Plain was experiencing a pretty good wildflower bloom. And it was an area that I knew little about. So, I headed off to this unique area inland from San Luis Obispo. It is a 50 by 15 mile valley that the San Andreas fault lifted and separated from California's San Joaquin Valley, thereby protecting it from that valley's development. And I found the plain's floor covered with wildflowers, and to a limited extent, the surrounding oak- and grass-covered rolling hills as well. I definitely plan to return!

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