Welcome to the 20th 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.

 Hotline Update 3-21-02

It’s the first week of spring, and this Saturday March 23rd is opening day at the ANTELOPE VALLEY CALIFORNIA POPPY RESERVE in Lancaster. Unfortunately, poppies are extremely sparse this year because of our drought conditions. In fact, veteran flower watcher and author Milt Stark tells us that this has been the driest winter since 1894. A few devil-may-care poppies (Eschscholzia californica) are bravely holding out along Johnson Hill road and Munz Ranch Road south of the Reserve, but the Reserve reports no flowers yet. For an update on the poppy status, call (661) 724-1180.

 The situation is a bit better south of the Reserve at VASQUEZ ROCKS NATURAL AREA PARK, where a tipster reports a few blooms of blue dicks (Dichelostemma pulchellum), interior goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolia), woolly paintbrush (Castilleja foliolosa), and fiddlenecks (Amsinckia sp.). To reach Vasquez Rocks, call (805) 268-0840.

 Crossing north into Kern County, the hillsides along Highway 223 past Arvin are still going strong with  popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys sp.), fiddlenecks, lupines and owl's clower (Castilleja exserta). Weather has been overcast lately but, after the sun returns, Highway 155 in the Glenville area, just west of Lake Isabella, will sparkle with poppies, lupines, and fiddlenecks. The Foothill Chamber of Commerce reports a colorful showing of lupines, fiddlenecks, popcorn flowers, blue dicks, and California poppies along its Wildflower Trail, which begins in Clovis at the northeast corner of Fresno and winds up into the Sierra foothills past Millerton Lake. The Chamber's Web site has a map of the Wildflower Trail and a suggested itinerary.

 East of there, SHORT CANYON near Ridgecrest is withholding its usual extravagant floral display, but you’ll find a few spots of color and some shrubs coming into their prime, including desert sage (Salvia dorrii), cheesebush (Hymenoclea salsola), and hop sage (Grayia spinosa). Beavertail cacti have some fat flower buds, which should unfurl in about three weeks. In nearby SAND CANYON, a beautiful riparian area, lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) is making a brave showing despite the drought. Both canyons are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, reachable at (760) 384-5400, and are located northwest of Ridgecrest near the Kern/Inyo county line.

 Moving west, the LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST in northern Santa Barbara county is even more beautiful this week than last. Areas around Figueroa Mountain Road are carpeted by goldfields (Lasthenia californica), poppies, fiddlenecks, and sky lupines (Lupinus xx), with a sprinkling of lovely shrubs such as bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida), purple nightshade (Solanum xanti), and prickly phlox (Leptodactylon californicum). For fuller information and more specific locations, call the Santa Lucia Ranger District's brand new wildflower hotline at (805) 928-3601.

 Returning to Los Angeles county, EL DORADO NATURE CENTER in Long Beach invites you to admire their wildflower patch, which is stocked with arroyo lupines (Lupinus succulentus), bird's-eye gilia (Gilia tricolor), globe gilia (Gilia capitata), tidy tips (Layia platyglossa), and Douglas iris (Iris douglasiana). Wander through the center, stopping at the Cantrell area overlooking the lake to find California natives such as Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium), bladderpod (Isomeris arborea), island bush poppy (Dendromecon harfordii), and various species and cultivars of sages and California lilacs. Reach the Center at (562) 570-1745.

 Moving south, the ENVIRONMENTAL NATURE CENTER in Newport Beach has a variety of delicate annuals in bloom including tidy tips (Layia platyglossa), baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii), and five spot (Nemophila maculata), along with the bolder forms of tree lupine (Lupinus arboreus), island bush poppy (Dendromecon harfordii), and California lilac (Ceanothus sp. and cultivars). To learn more, call the Center at (949) 645-8489.

 In San Diego county, ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK has finally received a bit of rain—too little to bring up any annual wildflowers, but just enough to perk up the shrubs here and there. Stalwarts such as chuparosa (Justicia californica) ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), and desert lavender (Hyptis emoryi) are flowering throughout the park. In the badlands, the northern half of the park east of the visitor's center, the desert asters (Xylorhiza tortifolia) are blooming, too, though not as profusely as in wetter years.

 At the SANTA ROSA ECOLOGICAL RESERVE in Riverside county, a small grouping of chocolate lilies are available for their close-up on the south Trans Preserve Trail, while rusty-haired popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys nothofulvus) and goldfields are in full bloom on the Vernal Pool Trail, with adobe popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys acanthocarpus) blooming in the Main Pool area. Phone for the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve is (909) 677-6951.

 When searching for flowers, don’t forget our local botanic gardens. Don’t miss the show at the SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN, a living museum of California natives. Poppies are coming into their full bloom there, accompanied by the hot colors of monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus) and scarlet bugler (Penstemon centranthifolius) and the cool tones of wild heliotrope (Phacelia distans), chia (Salvia columbariae), and caterpillar phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria). Other heart-stopping flowers to look for are California buttercup (Ranunculus californicus) and a quartet of perennial sages—purple sage (Salvia leucophylla), black sage (Salvia mellifera), white sage (Salvia apiana), and hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea). For hours and directions, call (805) 682-4726.

 Many gardens that don't specialize in California natives have native plant sections that make them worth a visit, too. UC RIVERSIDE BOTANIC GARDENS has a lovely grouping of natives coming into flower right now, with a combination of plants from desert, chaparral, and meadow, including desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata), fairy duster (Calliandra eriophylla) desert rose (Rosa minutifolia), chuparosa, creek monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), and the marvelously scented chaparral snapdragon (Keckiella antirrhinifolia). The garden has recorded information at (909) 787-4650.

 At QUAIL BOTANICAL GARDENS in Encinitas, head for the "Native Plants, Native Peoples" section to check out plants typical of coastal sage scrub, such as bush monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus), deerweed (Lotus scoparius), yerba santa (Eriodictyon crassifolium), California bush sunflower (Encelia californica), and island bush snapdragon (Galvezia speciosa). The Garden's number is (760) 436-3036.

 In the Santa Monica Mountains, check out the small but beautifully maintained native plant demonstration garden at SOKA UNIVERSITY in Calabasas. The garden is unstaffed on weekends, but signs will guide to several blooms, including prickly phlox (Leptodactylon californicum), California barberry (Mahonia pinnata 'Ken Hartman'), checker bloom (Sidalcea malvaeflora), hoary-leaf Ceanothus (Ceanothus crassifolius), and golden currant (Ribes aureum). Also be on special lookout for the pink spikes of the rare sicklepod rock cress (Arabis sparsiflora). Continue your explorations by taking the steep fire road behind Wisdom Hall up to Victory Summit for views of the canyon, then meandering down through oak woodland and chaparral. Enter the university on Mulholland Drive, just south of Las Virgenes Canyon Road, and ask the gate attendant for directions to the garden. The contact number is (818) 880-6400.

 Here at the THEODORE PAYNE FOUNDATION in the eastern San Fernando Valley, our California poppies, bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida and D. harfordii), lilac verbena (Verbena lilacina), and penstemons are going strong. The wooly blue curls (Trichostema lanatum) and desert mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) are particularly worthy of admiration this week. Come explore our grounds, nursery, and bookstore Wednesday through Sunday.

 Our next update is coming March 28. Check back then!