Looks like things are beginning to heat up on the California wildflower scene. There are reports of great displays from the southern deserts to the foothills of the Sierra and up into Northern California. To get the latest reports make sure to check out Carol Leigh’s California Wildflower Hotsheet.

One of the hottest spots right now is the Merced River Canyon below Yosemite. Poppies everywhere on Highway 140, east of Briceburg.  Michael Fry has a good report and photos on his blog, Michael Frye Photography Blog

Got an email from Kahlee this morning with an up to date wildflower report for the Owens Valley. Here it is.

Hi Steven — As promised, here’s a wildflower report on parts of Owens Valley from this past weekend (May 10th through 12th).

BISHOP – Lots of lovely blue Wild Iris along Brockman, Barlow and See Vee Lanes.  Plenty of blooms are visible, although not easily accessible (barb wire everywhere!).  You can even see them in fields right next to the 395 just north of the junction with Hwy. 6.  That same area also has Golden Wallflower (south side cow pasture) – even a beautiful Showy Milkweed (along the north fence line just past the bend after Hwy. 6). 

Best irises for close-ups were on See Vee, on the east side, approx. one block south of 395.  Lots of wind the day after I was there and this is the second phase of the bloom so who knows what condition they’re in today.  But that area on See Vee was pretty well-protected from wind by a lot of trees.  (Note:  Lots of people were out poaching the irises for Mother’s Day — carefully choosing the best ones of course.  Very frustrating!)

VOLCANIC TABLELANDS – Along Fish Slough Road (and lots of 4×4 side roads in the area), there are spectacular displays of Venus Blazing Star and Mojave Lupine as well as Purple Mat, Winter Fat, Apricot Mallow, Sun Cups, Hopsage, Indigo Bush and some kind of ubiquitous yellow shrub (Spiny Horsebrush?).  Chalk Bluff Road also has Indigo Bush, Venus Blazing Star, Sun Cups, Tansy Mustard (?) and others cascading down the slopes at roadside.

SILVER CANYON, east of the Laws Museum off Hwy. 6 – Lots more yellow mystery shrub, Indigo Bush, Apricot Mallow, two kinds of Gilia, Purple Mat, Sun Cups, California Buckwheat, Winter Fat, Mojave Aster, Pincushion, Hopsage (vanilla through burgundy colors) and yet another mystery plant – low-growing with thick grey-green leaves and ruby globe-shaped flowers. (This one also was on Fish Slough Rd in a few places.) 

Where Silver Canyon enters the White Mountains, there are some really huge Prince’s Plume plants – especially past the first stream crossing.  That first crossing is drivable in a sedan.  My Corolla did fine, but get out and carefully plot the best line through the creek before you try it.  It’s a very rocky bottom and some spots are deeper than others.  Don’t attempt any of the other stream crossings without high clearance and beyond those, you’ll need 4×4 to climb up to the Bristlecones if the road is even open that far. 

The BUTTERMILKS have pretty much the same mix as those areas described above, although someone in an earlier post had mentioned Desert Peach.  I saw none of that anywhere on this trip.  (I’ve seen it many times in Mono Basin, but not here.)

Further south at DIVISION CREEK, the Bush Lupine are toast.  Whatever was there has gone to seed.  BUT there are still things worth seeing:  Lots of Brittlebush, Indigo Bush, Morning Glories, Wild Rose, one nice Prickly Poppy right next to the road, a few Beavertail Cacti in neon pink bloom and, tucked into a large clump of lava on Tinemaha/Old 395 just north of the Division Creek Road, a great display of fuchsia Giant Four O’Clocks. (As their name suggests, timing for those is everything!)

There are lots more goodies along roads in the ALABAMA HILLS (particularly Horseshoe Meadow, Tuttle Creek, Lubken Canyon and Movie Roads).  Blooms are decent and in some cases just peaking, but overall, the Spring flower show definitely is winding down.  Look for the last of the Bush Lupine, Pincushion, Phacelia, Chia, Mojave Penstemon, Indian Paintbrush, Winter Fat, Mojave Aster, Hopsage, Sulphur Buckwheat, Blue Sage, Brittlebush, Yerba Mansa and some beautiful Owens Valley Checkerbloom.

Hope this is helpful to the Sierra Visions faithful.

Kahlee

Thanks Kahlee!!

The OC Register has an article about how this may be a banner year for wildflowers in the burn areas of Southern California. The article includes maps to where some of the better locations may be.

You can read the article here Flowers Follow Fire

Reports are beginning to show up online that spring is just around the corner. Wildflowers are beginning to pop up in many areas of California. In the Southern Sierra, Alison Sheehey from NatureAli.org is reporting that the Kern River Preserve has Poppies coloring the hillsides along with many other species. Here is quote from her reoport,

I just briefly checked the area where
the Kern River Preserve is bisected by Sierra Way and found the following in
bloom north of the bridge and granite road cut: Globe Gilia, California
Poppy, Red Maids, Chia, Bentham’s Lupine, Red-stemmed Filaree, Bigelow’s
Coreopsis, Bishop’s Lotus, Checker Fiddleneck and plants that should be in
bloom by this weekend include, Brown-eyed Evening Primrose, Scale Bud, and
Thistle Sage.

There are also reports that Joshua Tree is in bloom, along with Death Valley.

I haven’t seen anything yet for the Sierra Foothills, but the flowers should be getting close. There have been reports of wildflowers in the hills of Northern California.

The best place on the web to find out where the flowers are blooming in California is Carol Leigh’s Wildflower Hotsheet. It is updated daily right now with first hand reports from photographers around the state. Go check it out. Carol has been a friend of SierraVisions for a long time.