Desert Wildflower Blooms

Forecast and Report for 2003
Mark Dimmitt
Director of Natural History
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Wildflower update early April 2003
The annuals in the Sonoran Desert have nearly dried up at lower elevations. There were good though small patches in many areas from Tucson to Palm Springs, and some will persist for another week or so. Now ocotillo is in full bloom around Tucson and will continue through most of the month. Cacti are in bud and early bloom and they should be good through mid May this year. Too early to tell what the palo verdes and ironwoods will do.

There are excellent displays of California poppies and other annuals in the western Mohave Desert north of Los Angeles. For more information on that area check these websites:

Antelope Valley Press flower update: http://www.avpress.com/av/nature/flowers/popindex.hts

Theodore Payne Foundation: http://www.theodorepayne.org/

Wildflower update mid March 2003
Reports of a pretty good bloom in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The website has no wildflower information.

The western Mohave Desert promises a good display in April; it has already begun. Search for "Antelope Valley poppy" (or poppies) to find several webistes relating to this area. The most up to date seems to be: http://www.avpress.com/av/nature/flowers/popindex.hts

The Cabeza Prieta/Camino del Diablo area has a good display with a lot of diversity. There are fairly good patches of Mexican gold poppies near Kitt Peak, but few other species.

March 2003
YES, THERE ARE LOTS OF FLOWERS THIS YEAR.

The February rains revived the seedlings that germinated way back in November and survived the intervening drought. Those are in flower now, plus many more seedlings appeared with the rains. This batch may flower in late March and April if it rains again or if it doesn’t get too hot. The current batch of flowers are mostly on small plants, and the late crop will most likely be small too because of their short growing season.

I drove from Tucson to Palm Springs via Interstate 10, then home on I-8. There were flowers or seedlings nearly everywhere on sandy and gravelly soils except in the Algodones Dunes. No great displays, but many species. The best variety was on the I-8 freeway service road that goes west from Dateland, AZ. I saw probably 50 species in flower there on March 6. The ground was wet in most sites, so blooming will continue for a few weeks.

As for other flowering plants, ocotillo is beginning at the lowest elevations near the Colorado River. Fairy duster, brittlebush, creosote, and other shrubs are in flower. Cacti have buds and will probably do a good show in April.

Don’t expect carpets of color, but exploring for the many species will be fun and closeup photographers will be richly rewarded.

Late February 2003
A good rain in late February revived our annual wildflower seedlings. (They survived six weeks of warm, dry weather.) However, they have already begun to bloom, so it's unlikely that they will grow larger and make a massive display. Nonetheless, there are now good numbers of (small) Mexican gold poppies beginning to flower in Ironwood Forest National Monument. Lupines and many other species are in bud and will be in flower by early March. Another rain is expected on February 25, so it should stay moist for a while. Don't expect carpets of color, but macro photographers will be pleased.

The rains will also trigger flowering in many perennials such as brittlebush and fairy duster. The latter is already starting. Cacti, ocotillo, and other perennials should flower well in April.

For information on Ironwood Forest National Monument, visit the website at http://azwww.az.blm.gov/ironwood/ironwood.htm

I have not received reports on other areas in the Desert Southwest.

Early February 2003:

The outlook for annual flowers is bleak. No effective rain has fallen since November in most of the Southwest. It's almost too late to revive the seedlings that germinated then. Perennial plants can still respond if it rains in February or even March, so keep watching for updates.

No information on the far western edge of the desert in California or Baja California.

Wildflower update, early January 2003
The current El Niño appears to be a flop. Most of the Southwest deserts have not received the soaking rains needed to bring up the seedlings. I’ve heard of only two places that hold out any promise. Ironwood Forest National Monument (see the Arizona BLM website) has great fields of seedlings growing in the Roskruge / Silverbell / Waterman / Ragged Top mountains area. If there is more rain before February, there could be a good show there. The region around Hoover Dam reportedly has seedlings also. But remember we need more rain to grow the little plants to good size.

Interstate 10 through California is very dry. I’ve heard no reports from anywhere in California. A late December storm appears to have brought rain to northern Baja California, but no reports from the ground.

Wildflower Early December 2002:
We need at least an inch of rain before mid December to get a good wildflower bloom started. A moderate storm in late November dropped only a half-inch of rain in the Tucson valley, but at least an inch fell to the west in Ironwood Forest National Monument. (IFNM is new and not on most maps. It includes the Roskruge, Silverbell, West Silverbell, Waterman, Ragged Top, and Sawtooth mountains.) The ground in many places within the National Monument is green with seedlings, and if El Niño lives up to its promise and delivers a wetter than average winter, there may be spring flowers at least in this region.

No information yet on rainfall in areas north or farther west of Tucson.