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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature:  Wildflowers


California Wildflowers rival any that can be found in the garden. Springtime brings carpets of colorful spring blooms to large areas of California.  Many of these areas are relatively unknown, visited by only a select few during the peak of color. The wildflower season generally starts with an early spring in the desert regions of southern California, and works its way northward.  When the wildflower seasons occur, and how lush they are, depends on the weather and can vary widely from year to year.

Spring wildflowers bloom in the Eastern Mojave Desert. Blooms on a beavertail cactus, lupine blooming along a roadway, brittlebrush against a mountain backdrop, are just some of the sights a visitor can expect, depending on how wet or dry the winter season has been. Plants in this area that may produce blooms include desert marigold, sand verbena, desert primrose, globemallow, desert sunflower and milvetch.
California has some of the most beautiful wildflowers in the world To the casual observer, the Western Mojave Desert may appear to be a barren and lifeless wasteland. However, below the surface, a vast seedbank of annual wildflower seeds lay dormant waiting for just the right weather conditions to germinate and paint the desert in a riot of color. Best viewing is usually mid-March to mid-April, but it all depends on weather.

Springtime wildflower viewing in the Eastern Sierra is as varied as the topography of the "eastside." Plants begin blooming around the beginning of April with the first pink flowers of the desert peach gracing the hillside. The Volcanic tablelands can radiate swathes of yellow and fuchsia from the venus blazing star and purple mat, while the Alabama Hills host fragrant field of evening snow interspersed by scarlet locoweed and yellow pillows of a belly flower named Easter bonnets.

The Carrizo Plain .can be one of the most beautiful wildflower viewing areas in California. The arrival of spring generally occurs from February through May, and many times the Carrizo Plain comes alive with wildflowers. Many factors, including temperature and rainfall, determine which species bloom and their distribution in any given season
The Merced River is a very special place for viewing wildflowers. A most spectacular display can be seen during the spring and summer months. For those less inclined to hike, the river can be accessed by car along a six-mile BLM road. Beyond the campgrounds, only pedestrians, equestrians, and bicycles can continue along the ungroomed 18-mile river trail.

The Vegetation of the Red Hillls is unique.  The assemblage of plant species found there, including 7 rare plants, occurs nowhere else in the world.  In the early spring the seemingly barren hills turn yellow, white, lavender and pink, with a spectacular wildflower display.

The Sacramento River Bend Area, just north of Red Bluff, offers spectacular wildflower displays throughout the spring. Vast vistas of yellow and purple fields are common during a springtime hike along the Yana trail.
California nature is filled with California wildflowers Balboa Park is an award-winning All-America Rose Selection Display Garden containing over 2,400 rose bushes with 180 varieties.  After you've walked through other parts of Balboa Park and passed by the Botanical Building to get to the rose garden, you will be amazed at yet, another delightful display of flowers that this park in the heart of San Diego enjoys.

Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, California is located 20 minutes north of San Diego. Quail Botanical Gardens features over 35 acres of exhibits, including rare bamboo groves, desert gardens, a tropical rainforest, California native plants, Mediterranean climate landscapes, the Undersea Succulent Garden, Landscaping for Fire Safety and a subtropical fruit garden.

Pebble Beach is one of the Sonoma Coast State Beaches featuring stunning coastal views that hardly seem real. In the morning mist and dew, incredible splashes of color from flowers that open their buds to the promise of sunlight include fuchsias, pinks and reds. Framed by the deep blue Pacific Ocean below the cliffs on which the flowers sit, you can't help but feel something so special, so powerful in nature that you want to freeze frame that moment and hang onto it.
California Flowers and Botanical Gardens are some offer the finest collections of native plants, rare and endangered flowers and fauna, and lovely spaces for the public to enjoy throughout California. Wherever you travel in California, you'll find flowers of some sort, even in the desert regions after the rainy season. Flowers offer solace in times of sadness, delight in times of joy and food sources for the birds, bees and even humans who can enjoy certain types of edible flowers.

California Indians cherished the poppy as both a source of food and for oil extracted from the plant. Its botanical name, Eschsholtzia californica, was given by Adelbert Von Chamisso, a naturalist and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, who dropped anchor in San Francisco in 1816 in a bay surrounded by hills of the golden flowers. Also sometimes known as the flame flower, la amapola, and copa de oro (cup of gold), the poppy grows wild throughout California. It became the state flower in 1903. Every year April 6 is California Poppy Day, and Governor Wilson proclaimed May 13-18, 1996, Poppy Week.
 
 
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