Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Rain brings ‘super bloom’ of desert wildflowers
A DESERT area of Southern California is experiencing a burst of colour as the region enjoys a stunning “super bloom” of wildflowers.
It started with the desert lilies in December. Since then a wave of wildflower blooms has been springing up across the Anza-Borrego desert. The colour is so vivid it can be seen from mountain tops thousands of feet above. Two years after steady rain followed by warm temperatures caused seeds dormant for decades under the desert floor to burst open and produce the spectacular super bloom display, another winter soaking this year is expected to create an even better show.
Having two super blooms in two years is highly usual.
In California, super blooms happen about once in a decade in a given area, and they have been occurring less frequently with the drought.
The 2017 super bloom was the best seen in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in 20 years and drew mass crowds to Borrego Springs, a town of 3,500 people near the park.
“There’s just an abundance in where it’s blooming and it’s coming in waves,” said Betsy Knaak, executive director of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association, which tracks the blooms.
On a recent day, she wandered through swathes of bright yellow and acres of purple outside Borrego Springs.