Desert wildflowers starting to pop at Anza-Borrego and Death Valley parks

Wildflowers already?

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is reporting early blooms of sand verbena, popcorn flower, desert lily and other plants along roadsides after the recent winter rains. If there is more rain, the park’s website says, “the bloom will be better and last longer.” So this weekend could do the trick if the winter storms make it to the eastern San Diego County parkland.

Right now, sand verbena is blooming along Henderson Canyon, and desert apricot in Plum Canyon. Flowers also seem to be popping in the lower elevations of the park: the Carrizo Badlands, Sweeney Pass, Bow Willow Campground and Indian Valley.

Last year’s showing at Anza-Borrego was amazing, with carpets of purple phacelia and yellow desert dandelions leading up the Borrego Palm Canyon trail.

Of course, predicting perfect blooms isn’t a perfect science; intensely hot days could ruin the show. But the park’s visitor center manager Michael Rodrigues surmises that blossoming flowers at Anza Borrego will peak between the third week in February and the second week of March.

Death Valley National Park also weighed in on the wildflower front. A strong storm last weekend that brought 2 inches of rain to the park might make for a good wildflower season, according to a Feb. 8 report by ranger naturalist Charlie Callagan.

Desert gold, brown-eyed evening primrose and sand verbena are already blooming along the roadside in the southern and northern ends of the park. Peak bloom is predicted there from mid-March to early April.

So keep your eyes on the flower reports. At Anza-Borrego, call the wildflower hotling at (760) 767-4684 and/or go to the website for updates. And remember: Spring comes and goes quickly in the desert — don’t miss it!

– Mary Forgione, L.A. Times staff writer

[Photos: Top, sand verbena and a single dune sunflower at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in spring 2008; bottom, brittlebush blooms in Coyote Canyon at the park. Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 2:53 pm by Mary Forgione and is filed under California, Los Angeles, National Parks, Spring, Weekend Getaways. 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.