Natural History Wanderings

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve SNR reports on March 25, 2016

There are scattered poppies blooming on the North Poppy Loop trail and a variety of small wildflowers such as filaree, slender keel fruit, fiddleneck, goldfields, mustard, forget-me-nots, blue dick, and pygmy-leaved lupine around the reserve.
It’s looking like we’re in for only an “OK” bloom this year. It has not improved after the last rain which may have come too late to germinate more plants; we will know in the next couple of weeks if the season will end early or if we will see an improvement in the bloom.

We had a moderate number of poppy plants germinate from winter storms, but many were lost to a freeze. Bloom peak and duration is as unpredictable as Mother Nature, but generally late March to mid-April is the best bloom.