It’s been a strange winter in California. November and December were exceptionally wet, January and early February were almost completely dry, then we finally got some rain again in late February and the beginning of March. Now the weather has turned warm and dry once more, bringing thoughts of spring, and wildflowers.
Most of the best wildflower areas in Southern California received above average rainfall, as you can see from this NOAA map. But that six-week dry spell at the beginning of the year may have thrown many of the plants off their rhythm, so it’s difficult to predict what kind of wildflower season it might be. It seems likely that somewhere, sometime, we’ll see some great blooms—but where, and when?
The best I can tell you at this point is to look and listen for the wildflower reports as they come in. While Carol Leigh has discontinued her California Wildflower Hotsheet, she still administers the CalPhoto group on Yahoo, which is always a good resource for wildflower reports. Kahlee Brighton has also started listing flower sightings at the Wildflower Conservancy.
DesertUSA is another valuable site, with wildflower reports for Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas as well as California. Also check out the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wildflower Hotline. Sandy Steinman has a comprehensive list of links to wildflower reports on his blog.
These links just scratch the surface of what’s available, so if you know of other good sources please feel free to post them in the comments. And of course I’ll keep you up to date on what’s happening around the Yosemite area on this blog. So far, not much!
It certainly will be an interesting Spring! I think flexibility will be the key this year. I’m already making plans for this spring. I’m hoping to locate some good color while I’m out there. I actually go on the list for a couple of hikes at Tejon Ranch too. I can’t wait!
Dave, I’m sure it will be interesting! And flexibility is always a good idea when it comes to nature photography. That’s great that you’ll get to go on Tejon Ranch. I’d be curious to know what your experience is like, so please let me know, either in the comments here or by email.
Michael,
The weather pattern seems very similar to what occurred in 2003 with the epic bloom in Gorman. If the rain continues through April we might see something like that again. I have my ear to the rail on wildflower reports. Hoping for a good year.
Youssef, interesting comparison with 2003 – I hope you’re right!
Thanks for this post. I was just thinking yesterday about the coming Wildflowers and wondering where I could find a good report on when and where they are blooming. Thanks!!
Hello Michael,
Our four day trip to Yosemite is just concluding, between the horsetail falls event and the wildflowers, however the images we made are richly satisfying. We’ve been using your guide book and your blog to assist us in our exploration. Thank you for sharing your experience and skill.
We’ve been posting an image per day on our blog at the website.
Wayne and Colleen
That is a gorgeous wildflower photograph. I am not as into wildflowers as most photographers. My dad was crazy about photographing flowers. He was also very fortunate that my mother was often along on trips with him, with her books, identifying everything in sight. She enabled him to know what he was photographing. This opened up many exhibitions in major natural sciences museums. He was known not just as a fine art photographer, a documentary photographer, but also a naturalist photographer.
Greg, you’re welcome! Good luck.
Wayne, glad you enjoyed photographing Yosemite, and that you found The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite helpful. I took a quick look at your blog, and it looks like you found some nice things. I especially liked the El Cap reflection and the Wildcat Fall image.
David, thanks – glad you like the photo. Flowers have grown on me, in a photographic sense, until now I really look forward to wildflower season.