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Anza-Borrego wildflower package at La Casa del Zorro

Pincushion cactus bloom, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Instead of putting flowers in your room, one Southern California resort has a better idea: It encourages guests to go see desert flowers.

La Casa del Zorro Desert Resort & Day Spa, about 90 miles east of San Diego, has a wildflower package that includes a deluxe poolside room with private patio or balcony, continental breakfast, a hiking book on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (the resort is surrounded by the park) and a field guide on desert wildflowers.

The hotel package runs March 6 to April 4. Prices start at $315 a night Sunday through Thursday and $395 a night Friday and Saturday nights. (Prices don’t include tax.)

The park’s wildflower update page on its website, as of Feb. 23, included some showings of desert and dune sunflowers, California evening primrose, sand verbena and other plants. The recent rains provided the kind of “gentle, soaking sort,” the website says, that makes for a good wildflower season. Peak bloom is predicted for the first two weeks in March, with cactus flowers expected later as spring unfolds.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll see some desert bighorn sheep while you’re out smelling the flowers too.

—Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Pincushion cactus bloom / Los Angeles Times]

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 9:20 am by Mary Forgione and is filed under California, Islands & Beaches, Outdoors & Adventure, Palm Springs, San Diego. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

One Comment on “Anza-Borrego wildflower package at La Casa del Zorro”

triphow.com » Deserts in Bloom - La Casa del Zorro Desert Resort, Borrego Springs Says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 5:42 pm
[...] Hat tips to Stan Sesser, Wall Street Journal, and Mary Forgone, Los Angeles Times staff writer. Excerpts from both below. First the WSJ’s wildflower update. Americans can leave their passports at home. In a good year, desert wildflowers are in abundance a short drive from some of the nation’s major Western cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Tucson….witness the wildflowers in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles… [...]