The Desert Promise: Of Blooms and Superblooms

Poppies popping among more colorful blooms in a "good year," by Jane Simpson

The 2017 “Superbloom,” Henderson Field, Anza Borrego. This was the scene of the biggest desert wildflower display in decades at the park. by Jane Simpson

Occasionally, the desert surprises us with an explosion of color. Dubbed a “superbloom,” this unscientific term for a phenomenal blooming season took on a life of its own when Death Valley ran amok with California Gold sunflowers in 2016. Then 2017 stole the spotlight. After years of drought, the rains started early in 2017 and kept falling during that Winter. Beneath the desert floors, thick, waxy-coated wildflower seeds began to soften and stir from their long dormancy. As the wet, cool weather continued, Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree, Carrizo Plain and the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve areas all became blitzed by a media storm when the seeds sprouted en masse, exceeding expectations. Soon came a flood of instagrammers posing in flowers, cars lined up on dusty by-ways and photographers jockeying for a perfect shot.

Henderson Field, Anza Borrego These low-lying eye-catchers are ephemerals - evening primrose and verbena - that have to wait decades underground before the right conditions nudge their appearance on the desert floor. What a show! by Jane Simpson

And then came 2019, the most recent superbloom year. Fields and canyons from deserts to gentle coastal slopes displayed  glorious ephemerals, flowering plants that have a short but intense life span and prove to be even more impressive when they all decide to bloom in vast numbers at the same time. These are most often low-lying, compact plants with fewer leaves; they perpetuate their species by keeping their seeds lying in wait for the next rainy season.

 

Wandering in Flowers, 2019 JTNP Bloom by Jane Simpson

As unusual as a great blooming season is, even in off years there are flowers popping up just when you think it’s impossible. Spiky plants such as cactus and cholla will find ways to tease out enough water from the air and ground. But now, as our climate warms and wildfires take off even in deserts, the ability to not only predict but also experience a legendary blooming season seems more remote.

Teddy Bear Cholla in Bloom, Cholla Garden, JTNP by Jane Simpson

Poppies aren't the only game in town out near the Reserve, by Jane Simpson

Hedgehog Cactus. Pretty but don't get too close. by Jane Simpson