Carpets of yellow, orange and gold flowers are beginning to cover the vast deserts of Southern California, the spectacular cliffs of the Bay Area and even near Los Angeles International Airport.
But do they constitute a “super bloom”? There is no single definition of this event, but so far this year’s blooms have not been as vibrant or abundant as those that took over large areas of California last spring after drought-ending rains. Also this year the state received abundant winter rains.
After especially wet winters, explosions of color can appear in the spring, drawing crowds of visitors to California and other parts of the Southwest to glimpse fields in bloom and pose for photographs.
Here are some key facts about the natural spectacle:
What is a super bloom?
Scientists do not agree on any definition. In California and Arizona, there are stretches of desert that can quickly transform into dense fields of wildflowers, as the seeds lie dormant in the soil and then germinate and bloom at about the same time.
A recent study found that these widespread blooms, which have been visible by satellite images in some years, occur after seasons with average rainfall above 30 percent, said Naomi Fraga, director of conservation programs at the California Botanical Garden, east of the Angels. Angels.
Does this year count?
No, according to Fraga. This is because there is not a great diversity of flowers that have bloomed in places like California’s Death Valley.
This year’s flowers are not as large or as dense as wildflowers from previous years, he said.
“When I think of super blooms, I think of such an extraordinary bloom, which is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Fraga said, adding that this year’s wildflower display “is still a beautiful spectacle.”
Last spring in early April, visitors to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Southern California were treated to dazzling orange displays of the state flower. But around the same time this year, the fields were out of orange blossoms, and preserve officials posted that the window for a stunning spectacle was becoming “increasingly narrow.”
In Death Valley, one of the driest places on the planet, stretches of desert are sprinkled with gold thanks to sunflowers that emerged after an especially wet winter and spring.
Whether this constitutes a superbloom is “really in the eye of the beholder,” said Evan Meyer, executive director of the Theodore Payne Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that works to preserve California native plants.
When it happens?
April is usually the peak month for spring wildflowers, but in elevated locations they can continue to bloom well into spring.
Superblooms generally refer to low-elevation desert regions, Fraga said.
“It’s much more geographic than seasonal,” Meyer said. “Spring in the mountains has not begun and in the low desert it has already passed its peak.”
When temperatures rise in the desert, flowers can dry out quickly.
How does climate change affect superflowering?
Experts say it may be too early to tell.
Climate change is making precipitation patterns more erratic, but the effects on wildflowers could extend for decades or even centuries, Fraga said, as the seeds remain dormant in the soil for long periods of time.
Southern California received heavy rain last summer, unlike its generally dry summers, which she said likely stimulated out-of-season flower germination. Winter temperatures were also higher than average, so many of them were able to remain in bloom throughout the spring season.
“That resulted in a very unusual bloom,” Fraga said.