Reports were was that there was no “superbloom” in Spring of 2024 in Southern California but I fall in the line of saying that it depends where. The 2023 season was an incredible year marked by blooms throughout many parts of Southern California. Because of social media and being exposed to more digital content, there was a lot of content showing blooms but failing to note just how unique of a year it was. When 2024 came around, it may have felt like a let down for some.

I knew I had limited time this year for viewings so I had to prioritize what I wanted to see and where to go. I wanted to see what Diamond Valley Lake was like without a “superbloom” as last year was my first year visiting that site. I also wanted to visit favorite hiking places and follow the bloom–possibly finding new sites.

Diamond Vally Lake in Hemet was considered a disappointment by some people from social media as there was a very small poppy bloom. Because our significant rains didn’t happen until after January of this year (whereas in 2023, it rained heavily nearly every month starting in October of 2022), some seeds did not have the chance to germinate, and a cooler winter which lasted long meant slower growth.

There was, however, a really good bloom of goldfields. Last year, the hills at this Hemet location was orange from the poppies. This year, there were many patches of yellow with snow-capped mountains in the background. I went in late March and walking the trail without the elbow to elbow groups of people, DVL was a lovely hike through the hills. There were also blooms of desert flowers such as fiddlenecks, baby blue eyes, blue dicks, tidy tips, canterbury bells, forget-me-not, and chia.

We headed South on the 15 after hearing about the blooming ceanothus in San Diego County. The drive was extremely impressive with ceanothus (native lilac) covering hills from Temecula to Fallbrook and San Marcos to Poway. I can remember seeing a few patches of purple in previous years but never recalling the hills being covered with rolling purple after purple. We stopped at a local park in San Marcos and was able to walk some trails to view the ceanothus.

Our next wildflower viewing was at the Coachella Valley. When I visited in October of 2023, I saw blooming purple sand verbena due to Hurricane Hilary. I had a strong feeling that the desert had good blooms.

It did not disappoint! I heard about an area off the Washington St. exit, off the 10 Freeway, called the Coachella Valley Preserve. While not officially open to the public, we stayed behind the fence lines and took pictures. This is where I discovered that the sun position washed out most of the colors for many of the daytime hours at this location. Pictures were best taken near sunset or sunrise. We had time to come back the next day and we traveled through another route from West to East to discover that Ramon Road turned into Washington Street and there were many lots with wildflowers. This drive was very scenic.

One of my favorite hikes in this area is at Mission Creek Preserve at Desert Hot Springs. Last year, this location was one of my favorites due to the colors and variety of wildflowers. This year, the main trail did not have very many wildflowers, mainly fiddlenecks and brittle brush. We managed to walk another trail in this area and found some blooms. While I would not consider this site a significant bloom area, I enjoyed the hike. As part of the Sand to Snow Monument, you walk with a wonderful view of the mountains and a lovely river. It was interesting to note the different parts of Coachella Valley which was blooming and which was not.

I started to see many pictures coming through social media from the desert with very impressive blooms of goldfields at Red Rock State Park, Trona Pinnacles, and Death Valley. There were also reports of beautiful blooms around the Johnson Valley area. Looking at a map, I felt that it was possible that a closer trip for us would be to Barstow. Someone in social media posted some desert evening primrose in the Yermo-Barstow area and I felt that the blooms were similar to Anza-Borrego. I felt it was worth the chance to visit Barstow once again. Several years ago, I had visited the area with hopes of seeing some blooms. This was before I was on social media and it may have just been a less rainy year but one thing was certain, I didn’t know where to go then. At least this time I had one location to visit.

We drove to a location that had some desert evening primrose. Unfortunately, there was no walking trail and there were quite a few cars on that road which happened to also drive extremely fast.

We saw a density of yellow from afar. This was the year of the yellow if you remember (goldfields, fiddlenecks, brittle brush) and there was really only one route which could take you there, Calico Road. And it was here, that I saw a sight that took my breath away. At the end of this OHV area were yellow hills and a valley floor of purple and white.

By the time we were done walking this area, I had forgotten about the yellow streaks which brought us here. Back on the Calico Road, just a few miles away, was a large field of desert sunflower and desert marigold. There was no walking trail here just a beautiful field.

As life and other priorities pull me away from my wildflower adventures, the “superbloom” didn’t happen with the usual orange poppies but with goldfields, sunflowers, and brittle brush at the desert which had been aided by Hurricane Hilary in 2023. The weather event helped the desert bloom in areas which haven’t seen much bloom in years. I ventured to two new sites and visited familiar ones and left with continued appreciation and awe from California’s wildflower season.