What to Know
- A recent Facebook post reveals that rangers do not expect a 2022 superbloom at the national park
- There's been plenty of rain, but it arrived late
- Fans of desert wildflowers will want to keep an eye on the feeds for Death Valley, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and other regional spots for current wildflower reports
GOLD IN THE DESERT: Plenty of prospectors famously went in search of gold in and around the arid stretches of California, and history tells us that they frequently came up gold-less and empty-handed. But knowing where to see gold in places like Death Valley National Park nowadays requires a different skill: Following internet updates from those people, from dedicated park rangers to ardent flower fans, who keep an eye on wildflowers. For several of these spectacular specimens are most definitely golden, and their names tell the tale: Desert gold, desert marigold, goldenrod, and other sunshine-hued, gold-monikered blossoms regularly make a showing in the oft-golden deserts of the Golden State. But the question every gold-seeking lover of flowers asks as a new year begins? The hope-filled query involves the potential of a springtime superbloom, that over-the-top, ultra-stunning show of colorful flowers set against a typically flower-lite desert landscape.
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK... answered that question on Facebook in early January 2022. The answer? "Probably not," due to that impressive December rainfall arriving rather too late to make a profusion of petals happen. Of course, even if those headline-making carpet-like blooms don't grace our drier areas in March and April, daytrippers and road adventurers will still find gorgeous flowers in the desert, here and there, if they know where to go. Keeping an eye on the social feeds for Death Valley National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a great idea as February approaches, for the flower show can get going (if it is going to truly get going) around the second half of the second month, depending on weather, timing, and other related matters.
DESERT USA... is also a trusted source for bloom-centered happenings around our state's sunnier spots, with regular updates as to what is blooming, where to go, and what might be coming up, flower-wise, just around the corner.
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Pictured: A Death Valley superbloom from the past.
