One extreme example is the cactus called the night blooming Cereus. This cactus produces a magnificent flower but few people ever witness it in its natural habitat since it will only bloom during one night, typically in either June or July, before closing by the time the sun makes its way back up into the sky. Although many people think that a cactus is simply a thick plant full of sharp spines, these desert specimens have some of the most spectacular flowers in the entire Southwest. One case in point is the cholla cactus, a common cactus of the region.
The cactus produces flowers that can have bright red, yellow, pink, orange and lavender petals. These flowers in time develop into fruits, many that contain a spiny covering, which hold the seeds of the cactus.
John Lindell has written articles for "The Greyhound Review" and various other online publications. A Connecticut native, his work specializes in sports, fishing and nature. Lindell worked in greyhound racing for 25 years. It is the high point to catch the first shaft of the sun.
Quickly the light spreads downward until the whole ridge is tinged by it, and the abrupt sides of porphyry begin to glow under it. It is not long before great shafts of light alternating with shadow stretch down the plain ahead of me.
The sun is streaming through the tops of the eastern mountains and the sharp pointed pinnacles are cutting shadows in the broad beam of light. That beam of light! Was there ever anything so beautiful! How it flashes its color through shadow, how it gilds the tops of the mountains and gleams white on the dunes of the desert! In any land what is there more glorious than sunlight! Even here in the desert, where it falls fierce and hot as a rain of meteors, it is the one supreme beauty to which all things pay allegiance.
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The skies have delivered just such a watering regime. A nice interval watering on January 6, of 0. Another nice interval watering on January 12, of 0. Another semi-soaking in a January , storm event of 0.
AND another semi-soaking in a January Feb2, storm event of 0. Either of these could impact the plants. They say flowers were widespread, especially in the higher elevations of Goat Trail and Blowsands. Lots of brown-eyed evening primroses, popcorn flowers, pincushions, blooming indigo bushes, sunflowers, chicory, spanish needles. Some pictures follow. January 28 Fred and Carla have also posted a report from essentially the same area as Pam and Dan above.
See Fred's Hike details. Fred says they crossed areas covered in Brown-eyed primrose, with a strong scent in the air from the blooming indigo bush, and dozens of Desert five spot ready to bloom. Sand verbena, broad leaf gilia, and desert lily, are all in bloom, in this area, Fred says. January 27 Kathy sends us a report this morning on Coachwhip Wash , right across from Smoketree, which is described below. Flowers to be seen include: dune evening primrose, brown-eyed primrose, sand verbena, popcorn flower, spectacle pod, poppies, sunflower, and the desert lilies are beginning to bloom as well.
We may have photos to add later today. See our map. More early blooms. Pigmy poppies, sand verbena, ground cherry, desert sunflower, and more. Here are two photos from today's trip. January 25, A photo today taken at the Arroyo Salado campground. There are lots of patches like this in that area. Some of the patches are heavy with sand verbena, others are mostly sunflowers, and there are areas of desert lilies here and there that should bloom in about a week or so, Photo by Mike McElhatton January 19, Photos from Clark Dry Lake A: White rhatany, B: White tackstem, C:Red stem filaree, D: Notch leaf phacelia Photos by Fred Melgert, Hiking Details Some nice photos of our unusual winter bloom This beautiful photo by Fred Melgert of dune evening primrose and sand verbena would have been a great shot in springtime.
But it was not taken in springtime. It was taken in January! The location is near the end of Buttes Pass Road. Photo by Fred Melgert. Desert Lillies are often some of the first bloomers in springtime, well ahead of the fields of flowers. But again, this is in January! Same location as above, Buttes Pass Road. January 19, Bloom Prediction for - "Bursting with Blooms" Desert Research Botanist Kate Harper has been making field observations over the past weeks and has just issued her prediction for the bloom season.
Please read her report in its entirety, but the bottom-line is that we are on track for a very good bloom this season with just a couple of weather conditions that could alter it. What has triggered the first pulse of blooming? So, right now, in mid-January , we are having a bloom! Unfortunately, none of the popular close-to-town flower field areas are included in this spotty early bloom.
What has triggered the second, more common pulse of blooming? Then, what do the garden experts tell you? The skies have delivered just such a watering regime, so far: A semi-soaking on December 31, of 0. AND another soaking in a January , storm event of 0. January 10, And now more rain! It is raining lightly in Borrego Springs this evening and still more rain is predicted in the coming week.
January 6, More rain and winter flowers More rain in Borrego Springs last night and continued cool temperatures are keeping ample moisture in the soil, exactly what is needed for an excellent flower bloom this spring. It also appears that we are seeing a normal cycle of winter storms moving through the area on a day baises. That's more good news. The main bloom will be in springtime, whenever daily temperatures start to reach into the high 70s and 80s on a consistent basis. But the rain is already giving us unusual winter blooms in some areas, with scattered patches of flowers being reported in various locations.
The photos below were submitted by Terry Hunefeld. Photos by Terry Hunefeld Meanwhile, Fred and Carla are also reporting small blooms, moist conditions, and good germination. Their most recent report comes from the East Butte area and mentions desert sand verbena, brown-eyed primrose, as well as some desert lillies being spotted on their hike. December 31, Flower Forecast Update: Flower Season We are receiving heavy rain in Borrego Springs on this last day of , and snow above feet.
This storm greatly increases the likelihood of a excellent wildflower bloom this spring. It's too early to say with any certainty when exactly the bloom will take place. It will happen when temperatures warm up in springtime. We could have a prolonged bloom that starts in February and continues into March, or we could have the more typical "peak bloom" scenario that takes place over one or two weeks, typically in March, but sometimes in February.
We just have to see how nature decides to make its presentation. December 25, First Flower Forecast: Flower Season Anyone who has read our flower forecasts in the past knows that a desert wildflower bloom is a hard thing to predict, especially early in the season. That said, things are looking very positive right now for an excellent wildflowers bloom this season. In fact, there are some wildflowers blooming right now - more about that later - see below. As for the spring forecast, we had a heavy rain in mid December that percolated down deep into the soil, and we had another light rain yesterday.
The big question we always get is When will it happen? Typically the peak of a wildflower bloom in the Borrego Valley is in March, and generally in the first half. But the weather so far this season has some wildflower prognosticators thinking that we could see an earlier peak bloom this year, maybe in February. If the rain comes as has been the case so far this winter , then the bloom will come when temperatures warm up in Springtime.
When is Springtime? It's when the temperatures warm up! That's generally March but it sometimes happens in February. So keep posted. As far as right now is concerned, we have had the rain and we have also had consistent warm days and that has given us unusual winter blooms in some areas. These are not the expansive fields of flowers that we see in the spring but there are some pretty impressive winter blooms taking place right now in some areas. We also saw a few brown-eyed primroses and desert sunflowers along Hwy 78 starting from just before the Ocotillo Wells Recreational Vehicle Area going east until almost Hwy Photo by Tom Chester.
They said:. Driving by this looked so green. Wow, this is one of the greenest places outside of the badlands right now.
Many Encelia farinosa farinosa , Brittlebush are in full bloom along with Krameria that otherwise almost never blooms right here. Amazing how fresh Cylindropuntia ramosissima , the Diamond cholla can look, they might even bloom this season. We also saw many Eschscholzia , poppy and some F erocactus cylindraceus , California barrel cactus in bloom.
We've never checked the Echinocactus polycephalus polycephalus Cottontop cactus right here, but this was the time to do so. We say our first Lupinus arizonicus , Arizona lupine of the season in bloom. So far this hike has given us the highest bloom numbers of the season. As usual, Fred also posts some beautiful photos of what they saw. May 23 Report by Bill Sullivan Tuesday was busy this week.
I took my first picture along the Sunrise Highway at a. The Sunrise Highway is on the west side of the mountains that keep the rain clouds from heading east from the Pacific Ocean. It's because of the mountains that we have our desert, that and the sandstone, mudstone and claystone that for one reason or another have moved here from Arizona and Mexico.
At this time of year, the flowers down in the desert have to be able to survive summer heat. In the mountains, along the Sunrise Highway, the flowers can be a bit gentler. And prettier. These pictures were taken at the park visitor center this morning. Ironwood Marcy Yates. Shades of ocotillo red, palo verde yellow, apricot mallow, and magenta of cactus blossoms. Area west to the turn to Borrego Springs Road are awash in a sea of red right now.
He also reported lots of the germination at the southern end of the Coyote Canyon Jeep Trail, across from the citrus groves. Bill says we may be two or three weeks away from flowers, but we will have some flowers for visitors to see this season.
On a wider scale, we have not had the rain this winter that gave us the widespread super bloom last year. Unless there is a major storm in the next few weeks, this flower season will consist of more dispersed blooms, pockets of flowers here and there, wherever the ground moisture holds enough water to support the annual plant growth.
Rainfall in January and February is the main driver of spring flowers. For comparison, the same weather station recorded a total of 2. The flower season cannot be predicted from one rainfall, but the rain during the last 24 hours was a good start to the winter season. This is their first report of the new desert season. California fuchsia, Epilobium canum latifolium Slender wreathplant exigua, Stephanomeria exigua exigua Fred Melgert.
September 21, Sent to us by Bill Sullivan Summer in our desert ended with a significant for the desert rainfall on September 7. Hello to greenery, like the leaves of the Ocotillo plant in The September 7 rain contributed to the greenery.
A jeep trail crosses the creek in a few places. Photo shows the mess the rains made of the First Crossing. When we walked to the Second Crossing on September 20, it looked peaceful. Second Crossing - By Bill Sullivan. Ocotillo - By Bill SUllivan. Larger fields of California goldfields, Lasthenia gracilis and Erodium. From the scrups Cup leaf ceanothus, Ceanothus perplexans was in excellent bloom, at higher elevations.
Our favorite Bush poppy, Dendromecon rigida dotted the area. California goldfields, Lasthenia gracilis Photo by Fred Melgert. Some photos taked during the peak of the bloom Desert fivespot, Desert Threadplant, Stream orchid, and ghost flower. The speed is amazing. It is easy to see how hundreds of thousands of this species can quickly turn a field of flowers into a field of stubble.
Fred Reports that Rockhouse Canyon has an excellent bloom right now. Sweeney Pass and Carrizo Overlook. This photo is by Dean Curtis. Recommended: Drive north on Borrego Springs Road to the point where it turns sharply to the right and heads east. Pull onto the dirt road on the left side of the road right at the turn. Park and walk around to see blooms and scultures. This particular milkweed plant grows twining through other plants in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert.
It has milky sap and smells pungent. April 19, Paulette Donnellon captured this beautiful photo of a Chaparral Yucca a. Did you know that this plant was used extensively by Native Americans as a source for food as well as fibers for basket-making, blankets and sandals? It's hard to see this kind of detail on these tiny flowers with the naked eye! The California Fan Palm grove Washingtonia filifera on the right is looking great after the devastating fire early last year!
These fantastic photos were taken by Todd Linke. The top three photos were taken by Betsy Knaak, and the bottom two were taken by Marcy Yates.
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