Welcome to the 21st anniversary season of the Wildflower Hotline!

The Hotline brings you weekly updates on flowers from more than 40 sites across Southern California. Our goal is to help you come to know and appreciate the beautiful diversity of California's native plants.

 

 Please note: Wildflower displays change constantly. To avoid disappointment, contact your chosen destination to check flower conditions. Also check weather reports on the morning of your trip.

 

Lupines, poppies, and globe gilia make a stunning combination on this Gorman hillside. (Photo by Mike Schaper)

 

5/08/03 Report

Welcome to the May 8, 2003, update of the Wildflower Hotline. There are still many patches of California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) to be found at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, but peak bloom is now weeks past. Weed grasses are getting high and brown, lessening the overall effect. (If you wander through the tall grasses, remember to keep an eye out for rattlesnakes!) The visitor center will close its doors on Sunday, May 11th, although the Reserve remains open to visitors throughout the year. Flowers are showier on the east side of the Antelope Valley, where there are fewer tall grasses to compete with them. In Pearblossom, Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area is just reaching prime season. Many species are emerging en masse, including bright orange mariposa lilies (Calochortus sp.), blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), desert sage (Salvia dorrii), coreopsis (Coreopsis californica), and intense yellow linear-leaf goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolia). Ranger Dave Numer, who has been in Pearblossom for 29 years, says that the goldenbush is more prolific this year than he has ever seen it. This is thanks to this spring’s unseasonably cool temperatures (no heat waves!) and unusually consistent precipitation. Near Devil’s Punchbowl, at 116th Street and Avenue T, the Jackrabbit Flat Wildlife Sanctuary is covered with a variety of flowers, from the bright yellows of desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata) and coreopsis (Coreopsis californica) to the white, blue, and purple of Parry’s linanthus (Linanthus parryae). The linanthus is so thick that it looks like a carpet of snow underneath the creosote bushes. Also keep an eye out for owl’s clover (Castilleja exserta), which has a particularly beautiful combination of intense maroon and yellow.

 Also in the eastern Antelope Valley, dune primroses (or birdcage primroses, Oenothera deltoides) have also been in good bloom in and around Saddleback Butte State Park. They are doubly beautiful when scattered amongst their “birdcages” (their husks that resemble birdcages) from two years ago. (2002 saw next to no bloom.)

Last week’s two hot spots remain must-sees for flowers. The first is the Gorman area along Interstate 5 and the adjacent Gorman Post Road, where hillsides continue to burst with California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), lupines (Lupinus spp.), coreopsis (Coreopsis californica) globe gilia (Gilia capitata), and other brilliant wildflowers (see photos). Recent moisture has nourished the soil, promising extended bloom, but forceful rain and strong, ongoing winds have been damaging the petals of the more delicate flowers. Make sure to check conditions (click here for a weather report) before heading out. Recently, high wind advisories have been issued for the area.

A path leads through stunning lupines at Gorman. (Photo by Mike Schaper)

 

More Gorman photos can be found here

 

Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area at Gorman is a bit past peak, but still offers a nice variety of blooms. In particular, there are abundant white layia (or white tidy tips, Layia glandulosa) and brilliant blue-purple broad-flowered gilia (Gilia latiflora; look for the flowers with a yellow throat). For the best flower spot, enter Hungry Valley at Gorman and drive through the park, turning right at Gold Hill Road. Follow this road for several miles to explore the flowers. The best time to visit Hungry Valley is during the week, since weekends find the park full of motorcycles and other ORVs.

 

The second hot spot, Figueroa Mountain in the Los Padres National Forest received quite a bit of rain over the last week. The flowers were not damaged by it; in fact, they enjoyed it tremendously. Although the shooting stars, baby blue eyes, and prickly phlox are mostly gone now, there are still plenty of other lovelies. The sky lupine (Lupinus nanus), miniature lupine (L. bicolor), silver bush lupine (L. excubitus), and butter lupine (L. luteolus) are still growing strong. Mariposa lilies (Calochortus spp.) are absolutely gorgeous, as are chia (Salvia columbariae), Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla,) Indian paintbrush in a variety of colors (Castilleja spp.), vetch (Vicia spp.), tidy tips (see photo), Nuttall’s larkspur (Delphinium nuttallii), stinging lupine (L.

Caterpillar phacelia, and a single budding lupine, adorn a field at Figueroa Mountain. (Photo by Helen Tarbet)

 
 hirsutissimus), purple nightshade (Solanum xanti), fiesta flower (Pholistoma auritum), scarlet bugler (Penstemon centranthifolius), popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys/Cryptantha spp.), winecup clarkia (Clarkia purpurea), owl’s clover, sticky monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus), creek monkeyflower (M. guttatus), bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida), black sage (Salvia mellifera), hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea), blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), fiddlenecks (Amsinckia spp.), pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), wallflower (Erysimum californicum), and different varieties of thistles and clover.

Tidy tips carpet entire fields on Figueroa Mountain. (Photo by Helen Tarbet)

 

The California poppies are fading for the season at Figueroa, but there are still quite a few, combined with lupines, along Lookout Road (see directions below). As the poppies fade, however, globe gilia is taking its place. There are also a number of fields of tidy tips (see photo) and goldfields (Lasthenia sp.) in full bloom. Hills at 3,000 feet in elevation, which three weeks ago were covered in sky lupine, are now adorned with caterpillar phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria, see photo). New flowers out this week include woolly blue curls (Trichostema lanatum), wild heliotrope (Phacelia distans), white fairy lanterns (Calochortus albus), and elegant clarkia (Clarkia elegans). All of these can be seen on the Happy Canyon/Sunset Valley side of Figueroa Mountain (see below for directions).

 

Tidy tips up close. (Photo by Helen Tarbet)

 
Use these directions for a Figueroa Mountain Self-Guided Driving Tour. Take Highway 101 north to the second Highway 154 east exit (not the exit in Santa Barbara, but the exit that is five minutes past Buellton). From the north, take Highway 101 south to the Highway 154 east exit (Cachuma Lake). Go east for two miles and look for the sign at Los Olivos indicating Figueroa Mountain Road, with an arrow pointing to the left. Turn left and continue on Figueroa Mountain Road. The forest boundary starts at mile marker 10.5, although you will begin to see wildflowers before then. Continue on Figueroa Mountain Road past the Ranger Station (at about the 12 mile marker) to Lookout Road the second dirt road on your left. This dirt road will go straight up a hill, running alongside the asphalt road. You will see some magnificent fields of sky lupine and California poppies along this dirt road. Continue up the dirt road for about 1.5 miles, passing the Pino Alto Day Use Area. You will begin to see fields of flowers on both sides of the road as you approach the Cumbre Day Use Area sign. Once you have finished there, go back down the hill to the asphalt road and turn left. Follow the paved road around to the other side of Figueroa Mountain.  At this point you will come to an intersection in the road; you will see an abandoned fire station on your left. Turn left onto Sunset Valley Road, which will take you to Nira Campground, where the road will dead-end. Turn right at the dead end; this road becomes Happy Canyon Road, which will take you back to Highway 154. To reach the highway, follow the signs that say Armour Ranch Road. You will see a wide variety of wildflowers during your loop around the mountain.

If you are more in the mood for something close to home, the National Park Service recommends two sites in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The first is the Coyote Trail at Paramount Ranch. This easy hike boasts boasts owl’s clover, caterpillar phacelia, and dove lupine, as well as golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum), blue dicks, and elderberry (Sambucus mexicana). Fork to the right at the trail split to look for mariposa lilies and golden stars, as well as chia, phacelia, woolly blue curls, and farewell-to-spring (Clarkia sp.).

Nuttall's larkspur glows an intense indigo-violet on Figueroa Mountain. (Photo by Helen Tarbet)

 
 Closer to the coast, Nicholas Flat at Leo Carrillo State Park features a variety of chaparral bloomers including black sage (Salvia mellifera), Indian paintbrush, blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), lupine, Chinese houses, sticky monkeyflower, and tomcat clover (Trifolium willdenovii). Other highlights are hummingbird sage and mariposas lilies.

Now a report from Ventura County. As reported in previous weeks, Highway 33 to the Cuyama Valley has tremendous populations of the beautiful Douglas’ phacelia (Phacelia douglasii), along with chia and Bigelow’s coreopsis (Coreopsis bigelovii). The best area for flowers continues to be the burn area on the south side of Pine Mountain. Look also for a modest display of the rare and beautiful wind poppy (Stylomecon heterophylla) along the north side of Pine Mountain. Canyons in Cuyama Valley—Apache, Quatal, and Ballinger Canyons—also have some beautiful displays of thistle sage (Salvia carduacea) now. Although the goldfields are drying out throughout the valley, they are still providing a lovely golden-yellow color to complement the abundant yellow-blooming desert dandelion (Malacothrix californica). Throughout Lockwood Valley, which is adjacent to Cuyama Valley, look for the egg-yolk yellow of golden gilia (Linanthus aureus) and the beautiful blue of yellow-throated phacelia (Phacelia fremontii). Pringle’s eriophyllum (or Pringle’s woolly sunflower, Eriophyllum pringlei), a tiny little plant, is also creating impressive displays in both the Lockwood and the Cuyama Valleys.

 For the botanically adventurous, Cuyama Valley is also offering some great displays of stinkbells (Fritillaria agrestis). Go up Highway 33 to Ozena, turn right onto Lockwood Valley Road, and drive about twelve miles. Stinkbells look like chocolate lilies—until you smell them on the breeze! There are very impressive flower heads this year, with some plants sporting six or seven bells on a single stalk. Other interesting species should be coming up in this area soon, such as thornmint (Acanthomintha sp.).

 If you prefer to stay closer to home, the National Park Service recommends two sites in the Santa Monica Mountains this week. The first is the Coyote Trail at Paramount Ranch. This easy hike boasts owl’s clover, caterpillar phacelia, dove lupine, golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum), blue dicks, mariposa lilies, golden stars (Bloomeria crocea), chia, and farewell-to-spring (Clarkia spp.).

 Closer to the coast, Nicholas Flat at Leo Carrillo State Park features a variety of chaparral bloomers including black sage (Salvia mellifera), Indian paintbrush, blue-eyed grass, lupine, Chinese houses, sticky monkeyflower, and tomcat clover. Other highlights of this trail are hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) and mariposa lilies.

Also near home, Eaton Canyon Park at the base of the San Gabriels is coloring up with showy penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis), matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri), yerba santa, black and white sage (Salvia apiana), suncups (Camissonia spp.), canyon sunflower (Venegasia carpesioides), deerweed (Lotus scoparius), and patches of chia. Naturalist Helen Wong promises that every visitor to the park will find something beautiful.

 Blooms are also starting to take off in the San Bernardino National Forest. At Cactus Flats off Highway 18, look for glowing red desert paintbrush, Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), and tidy tips. Buttercups (Ranunculus californicus) are lighting up the meadows in Big Bear Valley. And the Pebble Plains area at Big Bear is coming into full bloom with many fascinating species, including Parish’s rock cress (Arabis parishii), pink annual phlox (Phlox gracilis), and yellow Douglas’ violets (Viola douglasii).

 There’s also a lot to see in south Orange county’s Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, reports Michael Butler of the Orange County Natural History Museum. Look for the deep lilac of aptly-named splendid mariposa lily (Calochortus splendens) along Dripping Cave Trail, which also has a scattering of winecup clarkia (Clarkia purpurea) amidst continuing ground pinks (Linanthus dianthiflorus), golden stars, blue-eyed grass, blue dicks, and California buttercups. Catalina mariposa lily (Calochortus catalinae) can still be found (although in smaller numbers) on the upper Meadows Trail. Osmadenia (Osmadenia tenella) is blooming, too, as are many pea-flower species such as lupines, vetches, lotuses, and clovers. California wild rose (Rosa californica) is getting under way now as well. The steep sun-facing slope running along lower Mathis Canyon Trail has masses of flowering black sage and California bush sunflower (Encelia californica), along with fiesta flower (Pholistoma auritum), sticky monkeyflower, Parry’s phacelia (Phacelia parryi), and wishbone bush (Mirabilis californica).

 Finally, don’t forget to visit us at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, Tuesday through Saturday, to see our extensive native plant nursery and wander our grounds filled with blooming native plants. Want to talk to us? Call (818) 768-1802.