Wildflower season is one of the most stunning times here in the hi-desert, and everybody knows it. Locals wait with bated-breath for our expansive earthy vistas to pop with yellow, orange and purple punctuation, and once the word is out on social media, everyone else comes to the Morongo Basin to catch a glimpse.
Though this year’s bloom isn’t expected to achieve the spectacular highs of previous years, any desert bloom is enough to dazzle. And, as long as everybody folows the ground rules for wildflower watching, they’ll continue to thrive in our environment.
But first, what can we expect in 2024? Wildflowers are already sprouting up in the desert, poking perky colors up from dunes, washes, sand, and even the side of Twentynine Palms Highway.
Wildflower season fluctuates each year, owing to a complex combination of ecological and meteorological factors.
Madena Asbell,]the Director of Plant Conservation Programs for the Mojave Desert Land Trust, provided insight what makes wildflowers bloom.
She said: “Spring wildflower season in the desert depends on a number of factors that make it impossible to predict. Winter precipitation is only one factor, but so is rainfall frequency, temperature, and wind. In a season like this one, which has seen a below average amount of rain delivered at relatively steady intervals, we may see abundant blooms in some areas, but likely not the density or diversity that we saw in 2017 and 2019.
She adds that a lot still depends on upcoming weather patterns. Though blooms are typical March, April and May, she says that a sudden heat wave could bring a sudden end to the bloom.”
Now that they’re here, how do we keep wildflowers around for longer? The best thing you can do is observe them from a distance, and leave them undisturbed. If you’re in the hi-desert and eager to witness wildflowers, take the advice of Joshua Tree National Park Chief Ranger Eric Linares.
“The other advice I’d give is: Leave them so everyone can enjoy them. A lot of people want to come out and collect flowers, pick a bouquet of flowers. I totally understand that, I love giving my wife some flowers, but on the same token, they are for everybody to enjoy.
“Even just walking out there can sometimes damage the soil, which could even mean that, in the future, we won’t get these amazing blooms.”
Linnares pontificated on the outdoorsing concept of “leave no trace.”
“It basically means, “take only pictures, leave only footprints. Leave things the way that you found them.”
For more information about wildflowers in the desert, check out an article from the Mojave Desert Land Trust on their blog: https://www.mdlt.org/blog/anatomy-of-a-superbloom
