Natural History Wanderings

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve SNR reports the current Bloom Status as of 3/7/15

The hills have patches of poppies beginning to bloom on the south-east facing slopes. The rain we’ve had this winter has resulted in a tremendous number of poppy plants germinating across the reserve, and we expect a fantastic bloom this year from mid-March through April.

In front of the visitor center, the beavertail cactus are producing their flower buds that will likely bloom near the end of the season. The Joshua tree to the west of the Visitor Center has one bud.

Tehachapi Vista Point Trail – The early-season grape soda lupine is in full bloom at the top of Tehachapi Vista Point with it’s sweet scent of grape soda, and flowers are on filaree, slender keel fruit, tiny forget-me-nots, pygmy-leafed lupine, and locoweed.

Lightning Bolt Trail: poppies are in bloom but there are still young plants that have not produced their first flower bud. The more mature poppy plants are starting to form their seed pods. Instead of just a poppy here and there you can now see nice patches of orange. Along the trail the following plants are starting to bloom: lupine, blue dick, fringe pod, wild parsley, forget-me-nots (there is a hillside of white on the north side of the trail), rattlesnake weed, lacy phacelia, slender keel fruit, fiddleneck, filaree (starting to produce seed pods), red maids, silver puffs are starting to open their yellow flowers, California asters have new leaves at the base of the plant and wishbone/four-o¡¦clock have new green leaves but no flower buds as yet. Bunch grasses have new blades. When going up the trail, look to the west and you can see Fairmont Butte beginning to turn yellow with goldfields.

Kitanemuk Vista Point: lacy Phacelia is carpeting the top.

Poppy Trail North Loop: flowers in bloom are: filaree, fiddleneck, scattering of poppies, sun cups, fringe pod, goldfields, owl’s clover, and cream cups.