For years we here in Southern California endured some really severe drought. Little did I know that years of drought can have at least one benefit, and that is the buildup of wildflower seeds. Through the drought years there have always been wildflower blooms, but just not intense ones. I’ve read that during those years the seeds build up in the soil as the plants choose not to germinate, biding their time for better conditions. Often when we get any bout of serious winter rain everyone starts getting excited assuming that even just one storm will produce a super bloom or even a good one, but that is not the case. Consistent rain throughout the winter months, month by month, is what is required to get truly exceptional blooms. Finally after years of drought those conditions line up and all those dormant seeds germinate at once. For parts of SoCal in 2016, 2017, and now 2019 we have experienced just that. And this year’s bloom of poppies in the Walker Canyon area by Lake Elsinore is the biggest superbloom ever there according to a ranger I talked to. The poppies are absolutely spectacular! A few other flowers are sprinkled around here or there, but the state flower of California reigns absolutely supreme. The crowds are pretty huge (fueled by all media, traditional and social), but I wandered for six miles through the land and was able to walk away with plenty of people-free natural landscapes like this one.
Tags: area bloom blooming california canyon conservation flowers grass hills lake elsinore mountains orange poppies purple super superbloom superlative walker wild wildflowers
© All Rights Reserved
At the end of some rolling low foothills of the Black Mountains in the southern end of Death Valley you can find some rather striking black hills. They contrast with the surrounding more muted landscape, as if all the black boulders had been swept down into a couple of neat piles. Little did I know that in my previous 8 years of visits that these black hills harbored a secret. And that secret was revealed in 2016 when superbloom conditions swept through the park. Apparently, Desert Gold wildflowers love these black hills, and the dark color of the hills really made the flowers pop. Note how many fewer flowers seem to cover the lighter hills just beyond. At this point late in the day, the Sun’s last rays are climbing up the formidable Black Mountains. After a few short weeks, this spectacular show went quiet, going dormant until the next superbloom can awaken under the right conditions.
Tags: Geraea canescens backlight backlit bloom blooming ca california death death valley desert gold flowers gold hairy hill national national park park rocks sand sky sunflower sunrise superbloom valley wildflowers
© All Rights Reserved
A flower of Desert Gold, Geraea Canescens, or Desert Sunflower, or even Hairy Desert Sunflower, stands tall in a field of alluvium blocking out the sun with its deep yellow pedals. With such strong backlight it is easy to see why it is sometimes referred to as being hairy. This was during the superbloom of 2016 in Death Valley National Park, when vast fields of flowers, particularly these sunflowers, erupted all over the desolate landscape. In a few years perhaps a seed bank will build up and conditions for such a spectacular bloom can ripen again. In 2018, the seed bank seems very depleted.
Tags: Geraea canescens backlight bloom blooming california death desert flower gold national park sun sunflower superbloom valley wildflower wildflowers zeiss
© All Rights Reserved
Like organic lava flows, cascades of yellow desert gold flowers trace paths of higher moisture down the slopes of the Split Cinder Cone, a very old volcano at the southern end of Death Valley National Park. This ancient volcano has been split in half by fault movement giving it its name. The gentle slopes of reddish volcanic cinder stand out in the surrounding valley and provide a deep warm backdrop for the explosion of color that occurred during the superbloom of 2016 in Death Valley. I find myself wandering back through the archives for wildflowers during this year that has been the opposite of a superbloom.
Tags: a7r2 bloom cinder clouds cone death death valley fault fe mountains national national park park sony split split cinder cone superbloom valley volcano west side wildflower wildflowers zeiss
© All Rights Reserved
The Temblor Range is in full sun and the flowers are all open and radiant in this view of the 2017 superbloom there and in Carrizo Plains National Monument. Temblor means earthquake, and indeed these mountains are immediately adjacent to the San Andreas Fault. But they are known for more than just shaking, as in the springtime the flowers there sometimes just explode into color all across the range, mostly with purple and yellow, the latter of which is particularly striking even from great distances. Photographer Frank Kee had a famous image from this range describing it as where God spilled the paint. Indeed, that is the impression one is left with when wandering through this colorful wonderland. This image was from 13 months ago and for 2018 I have not heard about any particular bloom happening in the Carrizo Plains yet, which just goes to show how varied the natural world can be.
Tags: bloom blue california carrizo desert green monument mountains national paint plain purple range sky spilled super superbloom temblor wildflowers yellow
© All Rights Reserved