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| Even doggies like flowers |
The usual brown and seemingly lifeless appearance of the deserts (of course, we know that's not true since we've written about the vibrant life of the desert before) have truly sprung to life this spring.
From the desert sunflowers to ghost flowers, from ocotillo to Canterbury bells and beavertail cactus, the desert is now a carpet of beauty. So much so that people from around the world are traveling to Southern California to witness first hand this phenomenon. March came in like a bushel of roses -- okay, perhaps not, but there are literally billions of blossoms blooming.
And most people believed it was only Disneyland or Universal Studios which could cause such a mad rush into the southern section of the most populous state in the union.
According to a recent Southern California Public Radio spot called "California Deserts in' Super Bloom' thanks to a Wet Winter" the host, Mandalit del Barco spoke of the beauty of the deserts because of the vast amount of rain California has received.
During the radio interview Anza-Borrego park ranger Steve Bier stated, "I'm looking at a whole field of this bluish purple phacelia. And in this foreground of the Coyote Mountains, that's nothing but poppies going 5, 6 miles up-canyon."
The reason for the sudden blooming of beauty is due to the fact California had been locked into a drought for five years, but the end of 2016 and especially the beginning of 2017 the heavens opened up. Inches upon inches of rain pummeled the state from the border of Mexico to the border of Oregon. The wild flower seeds had lain dormant for years waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
And came along it did - just in Anza-Borrego State Park alone during the winter months of 2016 over six inches of rain fell which is generally how much the park gets in an entire year. No matter, the seeds were ready and willing to sprout.
Reference the stubborn seeds, Bier told Barco that some of the seeds may have lain undisturbed for decades if not even a century - of course this isn't exact but the park's best guess according to their biologists. Some of the areas which received the heavies rains had not experienced a drop from ten to twenty years.
It isn't just the low lying deserts but throughout Southern California - Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, and many other areas. They're coming up roses. Well, not roses but the fields are blooming.
The bloom is not over for a few more weeks and the lower deserts bloom a bit more quickly since the temperature is warmer and the same superbloom will be coming to the higher deserts where it is slowly warming up. Making a perfect growing season for the dormant seeds. Antelope Valley, the Mojave Desert, and other High Desert areas will be having quite a show coming up in the next few weeks.
Mother Nature is an odd sort and not one to second guess. A seed buried in the sands of a most inhospitable climate for half a century and then in a blink of an eye they sprout causing a sea of unbelievable color and beauty could be called a miracle.
We decided to keep this short as always a picture tells a thousand words. We believe you will agree with us that millions upon millions of little miracles happened and is happening in the far out reaches of the Southern California deserts.
Go on out - if you happen to be in the area - and take a moment to stop and smell the wild flowers.
From the desert sunflowers to ghost flowers, from ocotillo to Canterbury bells and beavertail cactus, the desert is now a carpet of beauty. So much so that people from around the world are traveling to Southern California to witness first hand this phenomenon. March came in like a bushel of roses -- okay, perhaps not, but there are literally billions of blossoms blooming.And most people believed it was only Disneyland or Universal Studios which could cause such a mad rush into the southern section of the most populous state in the union.
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| Park Ranger Bier loving the blooming |
According to a recent Southern California Public Radio spot called "California Deserts in' Super Bloom' thanks to a Wet Winter" the host, Mandalit del Barco spoke of the beauty of the deserts because of the vast amount of rain California has received.
During the radio interview Anza-Borrego park ranger Steve Bier stated, "I'm looking at a whole field of this bluish purple phacelia. And in this foreground of the Coyote Mountains, that's nothing but poppies going 5, 6 miles up-canyon."
The reason for the sudden blooming of beauty is due to the fact California had been locked into a drought for five years, but the end of 2016 and especially the beginning of 2017 the heavens opened up. Inches upon inches of rain pummeled the state from the border of Mexico to the border of Oregon. The wild flower seeds had lain dormant for years waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
And came along it did - just in Anza-Borrego State Park alone during the winter months of 2016 over six inches of rain fell which is generally how much the park gets in an entire year. No matter, the seeds were ready and willing to sprout.
Reference the stubborn seeds, Bier told Barco that some of the seeds may have lain undisturbed for decades if not even a century - of course this isn't exact but the park's best guess according to their biologists. Some of the areas which received the heavies rains had not experienced a drop from ten to twenty years.
It isn't just the low lying deserts but throughout Southern California - Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, and many other areas. They're coming up roses. Well, not roses but the fields are blooming.
The bloom is not over for a few more weeks and the lower deserts bloom a bit more quickly since the temperature is warmer and the same superbloom will be coming to the higher deserts where it is slowly warming up. Making a perfect growing season for the dormant seeds. Antelope Valley, the Mojave Desert, and other High Desert areas will be having quite a show coming up in the next few weeks.
Mother Nature is an odd sort and not one to second guess. A seed buried in the sands of a most inhospitable climate for half a century and then in a blink of an eye they sprout causing a sea of unbelievable color and beauty could be called a miracle.
We decided to keep this short as always a picture tells a thousand words. We believe you will agree with us that millions upon millions of little miracles happened and is happening in the far out reaches of the Southern California deserts.
Go on out - if you happen to be in the area - and take a moment to stop and smell the wild flowers.
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| Death Valley in bloom |
