The spring 2019, bloom in the Anza Borrego Desert was spectacular. Who knew after the super bloom in 2017 that just 2 years later there would be an even better bloom? The desert received frequent rains beginning October through February. By April the desert will be near the end of the bloom, but a lot depends on the temperatures, wind, additional rain, cloud cover, elevation, and the presence of insects.
We made a visit to Borrego in February and another in March to check out the bloom. See the next post for the March visit. The eastern low desert experienced an early and dense bloom in February, attributed to the remnants of a tropical storm that dropped heavy rain there in October. The rain did not reach the western part of the park, but all parts of the park started receiving frequent rain in late December, which continued through mid-February. When we checked online before we left, it appeared that the most easily accessible wildflowers were along County Road S22, the Borrego Salton Seaway, between road markers 30 and 35.
We were not disappointed; there we found, growing in the loose sandy soil, countless blooming plants. We were able to drive a considerable way on an unpaved desert road that ran through a dry wash. There we found several other species as well as cactus, growing in more stable soils.
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Sadly, there was lots of non-native saharan mustard. However, many visitors had pulled up thousands of plants.
On the way home, I drove back through Cuyamaca State Park. It had snowed there the prior weekend. It was the first time in the 35 years I'd lived in San Diego that I'd ever been in the mountains with snow. You could see lots of evidence of weekend visitors, but it was still pretty cool and not a person to be found anywhere. We would return to the foothills and mountains several times in the spring to check out the spectacular 2019 superbloom that moved upland from the desert and lingered well into June on the highest peaks
We made a few quick stops to check out some of the iron sculptures in the desert
I highly recommend the website borregowildflowers.com, which is an excellent site for information about desert wildflowers and an excellent resource for identifying plants.
We made a visit to Borrego in February and another in March to check out the bloom. See the next post for the March visit. The eastern low desert experienced an early and dense bloom in February, attributed to the remnants of a tropical storm that dropped heavy rain there in October. The rain did not reach the western part of the park, but all parts of the park started receiving frequent rain in late December, which continued through mid-February. When we checked online before we left, it appeared that the most easily accessible wildflowers were along County Road S22, the Borrego Salton Seaway, between road markers 30 and 35.
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| Snow on Coyote Peak north of S2. Most San Diegians don't know that this is the county's highest peak |
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| Snow covered Santa Rosa peek in the distance behind endless fields of wildflowers |
We were not disappointed; there we found, growing in the loose sandy soil, countless blooming plants. We were able to drive a considerable way on an unpaved desert road that ran through a dry wash. There we found several other species as well as cactus, growing in more stable soils.
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| Lupinus arisonicus |
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| Lupinus arisonicus |
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| White primroses - Oenthera deltoides deltoides |
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| Sand Verbena - Abronia villosa var villosa |
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| Parish's poppies - Eschscholzaia parishii |
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| Parish's poppies - Eschscholzaia parishii |
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| California dandelion - Malacothrix californica |
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| Geraea canescens and Lupines |
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| Notch leaf phacelia - Phacelia crenulata |
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| Phacelia crenulata |
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| Phacelia crenulata |
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| Desert Lily - Hesperocallis unulata |
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| Desert Lily - Hesperocallis unulata |
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| Plantain |
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| Emory's Rockdaisy -- Perityle emoryi |
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| Eriogonum inflatum |
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| A previous year's Eriogonum inflatum |
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| Camissonia boothii |
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| Ocotillo in bloom |
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| Ocotillo |
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| Popcorn Flower - Plagiobothrys arizonicus |
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| Salton milkvetch - Astragalus crotalariae |
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| Cylindropuntia ramosissima |
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| Cylindropuntia ramosissima closeup |
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| Cholla, hills and long shadows |
Sadly, there was lots of non-native saharan mustard. However, many visitors had pulled up thousands of plants.
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| Uprooted Sahara Mustard |
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| Scott action shot point out the flowers |
On the way home, I drove back through Cuyamaca State Park. It had snowed there the prior weekend. It was the first time in the 35 years I'd lived in San Diego that I'd ever been in the mountains with snow. You could see lots of evidence of weekend visitors, but it was still pretty cool and not a person to be found anywhere. We would return to the foothills and mountains several times in the spring to check out the spectacular 2019 superbloom that moved upland from the desert and lingered well into June on the highest peaks
We made a few quick stops to check out some of the iron sculptures in the desert
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| Remnants of snow and Cuyamaca Peak in the background |
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| "Used" snow, Lake Cuyamaca and Iron Mountain |
I highly recommend the website borregowildflowers.com, which is an excellent site for information about desert wildflowers and an excellent resource for identifying plants.
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