For desert wildflower fans, it’s bloom or bust
Every year, desert lovers hope for a banner spring wildflower season, like the one we experienced in 2005, when Mother Nature splashed brilliant patches of blossoms across the Western deserts and filled the air with pollen and the perfume of myriad flowers.
If late fall and early winter rainfall totals at least an inch, it encourages the bulbs and seeds of desert plants to begin to sprout. But to continue to grow, they need conditions in late winter that are nearly perfect — more showers, not too much wind and not too much heat.
This season started off well with the requisite rains in November and December, followed by more rain in January in many areas, producing a flush of emerging greenery early in 2015. Rains have been spotty since then. Winds have not been too persistent. But much of the Southwest has experienced a long spell of unseasonably warm days and even record-setting temperatures.
Optimistic early predictions for this wildflower season have changed. Unless spring showers provide more water for those emerging seedlings, hopes for a banner year will be dashed. But many prognosticators still think 2015 will produce a better-than-average wildflower show. Some areas that received heavier rainfall after the first of the year, such as southern Arizona, may yet produce a sensational wildflower season.
Experienced wildflower watchers know that you find some flowers in some places every year. You have to follow the water. Even in a dry year, there will be some wildflowers along highways because of the runoff from the pavement, except where roadsides have been disturbed by construction or maintenance work.
In areas such as alluvial fans where there are a lot of rocks or in canyons where there are boulders, you will find flowers tucked around them because the rocks keep the soil from drying out too quickly beneath them. South-facing slopes that get the most sun will produce more flowers.
Desert flower lovers enjoy a long wildflower season. Plants started blooming at the lowest elevations as early as January. The season runs through mid-July in the higher elevations of wooded foothills and desert mountain ranges. The kinds of plants will vary widely with elevation.
In Southern Nevada and nearby northwestern Arizona, flowers show up earliest along roads accessing the Colorado River or Lake Mohave from U.S. Highway 95 or U.S. Highway 93. Since it is always warmer near Laughlin, expect to see wildflowers already in bloom along state Route 163 and connecting roads on both sides of the river, such as the side road to Oatman from Bullhead City.
State Route 165 through old Nelson and scenic Eldorado Canyon reaches an area that seems to get more rain than elsewhere. Visitors find some wildflowers in Eldorado Canyon every year and blossoms in showy abundance in good years. Early reports indicate a fair show along the road to Willow Beach on the Arizona side, a welcome recovery from past disturbances caused by flooding and road work.
Other promising places for wildflower outings this spring include the scenic highways through Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park, state Route 164 from Interstate 15 to U.S. 95 at Searchlight and roads accessing Mojave National Preserve from state Route 164 and I-15.
When conditions are optimal, Death Valley National Park’s wildflower show is spectacular. This spring, the wildflowers will not be as widespread. Visitors will be able to find flowers in bloom along the approach roads into the park, especially in canyons and passes. Look for roadside flowers along state Route 190 from Death Valley Junction toward Furnace Creek, in Daylight Pass on state Route 374 from Beatty and along the southern access on state Route 178 through Salsberry Pass and Jubilee Pass. Inquire at the visitor center for other promising routes.
Margo Bartlett Pesek’s column appears on Sundays.
