CALIFORNIA — The Golden State is lush and green thanks to the state’s wetter-than-average winter, which has researcher’s wondering: Will there be a repeat-superbloom in California in 2024?
The superbloom phenomenon is a term given to an above-average number of wildflowers blooming at the same time.
The last California superbloom was in 2023. Such a phenomenon can only happen when the conditions are perfect — a super bloom requires a high, normally dormant, seed bank, just the right amount of rain, and a dry stretch after that to warm the soil. If that is achieved, then Californians may start seeing hillsides carpeted with lush wildflowers.
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With the record-breaking rainfall this winter, wildflowers are already starting to show off their colors in some areas across the Golden State. For future months, the displays are expected to be “impressive” across the state for the second year in a row, California State Parks officials said in a news release.
Ryan Forbes, State Park interpreter for the Bay Area District, told the San Francisco Chronicle that wildflower enthusiasts can expect to see Northern California blooms in another couple of weeks.
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“The wildflowers should take another couple of weeks after this recent series of storms for things to start popping up,” Forbes said. “A good year of rain tends to mean a good year for flowers, and we’ve certainly been getting rain recently.”
In Southern California, the late winter season is already showing off some vibrant, but sporadic, wildflower patches in the regions high desert, including locations such as the Anza-Borrego Desert and Joshua Tree National Park.
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According to the State Parks Department, public land managers are expecting “good” to “better-than-average” wildflower blooms in spring, depending on future weather conditions.
Depending on the park, residents might see colorful California poppies, sand verbena, desert sunflowers, evening primrose, popcorn flowers or desert lilies — to name a few.
“If the state is lucky to be adorned with wildflower blooms this spring, we want to make sure that everyone has a positive experience when exploring them,” State Parks Director Armando Quintero said in a statement. “California State Parks welcomes all to enjoy these unpredictable, rare occurrences but asks visitors to ‘Don’t Doom the Bloom’ by staying on designated trails and taking only photos, not flowers.”
Here are California’s state parks that are currently blooming:
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park — Borrego Springs
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve — LA County
Chino Hills State Park — San Bernardino County
Tule Elk State Natural Reserve — Kern County
In Northern California, the State Parks Department has not reported any signs of notable blooms in state parks — however, this was expected to change with continued good weather.
Last year, springtime brought a plethora of blooms to Northern California parks such as Mount Tamalpais State Park in Marin County, China Camp State Park in San Rafael and Mount Diablo State Park in Contra Costa County.
Northern California residents can look out for reports of superblooms at the following parks:
Mount Diablo State Park
Lake Tahoe
Bolinas Ridge, Marin County
China Camp State Park — San Rafael
Residents should look for California poppy, narrow-leaf mule’s ear, yellow mariposa lily, Ithuriel’s spear and Douglas iris. Park hours are from 8 a.m. to sunset with parking in the main park.
As for whether or not a true superbloom will take place, experts say that only time will tell.
“It’s hard to say exactly what we will see,” UC Santa Barbara Professor Joan Dudney told The Orange County Register.”But we have seen a fair bit of rainfall, especially in Southern California. So I do expect that we’ll see some really beautiful blooms in some places.”
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