Last Year’s Supreme Wildflower Superbloom
The desert wildflower supreme superbloom in the Anza Borrego Desert was on my mind this weekend as a spring storm blew in with fury. I was grateful to be at home, going over last year’s wildflower photos, because as I learned quickly, a windy day can turn dangerous on the trails and dirt roads. The canyons can funnel wind down the desert slopes and can be unrelenting. The wind certainly gets strong enough to knock all 185 lbs of me off of my feet and onto the ground. I was very grateful that I wasn’t smashed into the big cactus that was ten feet away at the time, so I then learned to find something else to do on a windy day.
The dust and blowing sand are another thing that can easily ruin a weekend, and certainly did the past one. We don’t get the dust clouds nearly as much in the borrego valley, but the inland empire, coachella valley, imperial county, and salton sea area have been absolutely miserable with dust filled air. Worse still, the dust is such a fine particle that it gets deep in your lungs and makes breathing miserable. It dulls out your beautiful views, coats the patio furniture and all the plants in brown ick, and try as you might you’ll never keep it out of the house.
So as I was tucked away at home, with the stormy winds raging down the desert slopes, I looked through last year’s wildflower superbloom photos. The blue skies and sunny days, and short sleeves weather seemed so far off, but luckily it’s just around the corner. It’s always a battle this time of year to see whether the good, sunny and calm weather will prevail, or the windy, dusty, snowbird season-ruining weather will.
So I’m really hopeful for more calm days to go out and take more wildflower photos. The lupines have started, the first ones to pop this year were the sand verbenas, followed by the apricot mallows. The desert sages have perked up, but I haven’t see the profusion of little ground cover flowers we had last year.
We still have a good 6–8 weeks to go of wildflower season, with the sunny and warm weather this week, I think whole fields will be blooming day by day. I can’t wait to get back out there and just immerse myself in the blooming desert landscape. If you want to experience it yourself, the northern part of Borrego Springs is the perfect area right now. The hot spots are the base of Coyote Canyon, Henderson Canyon, and the Old Springs Preserve.
The state park and the Anza Borrego Foundation are both incredible resources who would be thrilled to help you plan your visit so that you get to see the best of the best. It’s always best to call the state park headquarters and make sure the roads that you plan to drive are passable, out here sometimes there isn’t a bypass if there’s a closure, and to make sure any jeep roads you plan to use are in good condition and open for travel.
State Park Website: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638
Phone number: (760) 767–4205
Wishing everyone a supremely beautiful, clear, dusty-haze-free photos, beautiful desert sunsets, and most importantly a safe desert wildflower superbloom season.
All the best,
William Z. Brennan & Desert Mountain Apothecary
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