2010 Wildflower Reports - from Central California featuring Kern, Inyo, San Luis Obispo and Tulare Counties

2010 Wildflowers Nature Ali adventures far

and near

Kern, Inyo, & Tulare County Wildflowers rival any that can be found in the garden. Delicate delights for the senses, you are invited to experience the wondrous vistas awaiting with our spectacular year-round shows. Although spring is best. All year you can find amazing floral treats.

2010 Wildflower Scenes

Kern - Inyo - Tulare Wildflower Reports from the Last Few Years:

2005 Wildflower Reports

2006 Wildflower Reports

2007 Wildflower Reports

2008 Wildflower Reports

2009 Wildflower Reports

PHOTOS

February 2009

March 2009

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

February 2007 Flowers

March 2007 Photos

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

Help keep this list up to date: Tri-County Groups webpage

Share your wildlife, wildflower, and archeological sightings, trips, festivals, and anything else related to nature and the outdoors of Inyo, Kern, & Tulare Counties with the group. Subscribe by email

WILDFLOWER HOTLINES

Carrizo Plain - Goodwin Education Center

Desert Wildflower Watch

Death Valley National Park Wildflowers

Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve Wildflower Hotline (661) 724-1180

Gorman/Tejon Pass
Hungry Valley Ranger Station (661) 248-7007

Fort Tejon Ranger Station (661) 248-6692

Kern County Wildflower Hotline (800) 500-KERN (starting end of March/early April)

Theodore Payne Foundation Wildflower Hotline

PLACES TO VISIT

Carrizo Plain National Monument

DEATH VALLEY

Red Rock Canyon State Park

Southern California Wildflower sites

Identifying California Wildflowers

CalFlora - $10 per year

CalPhotos Plants

California Academy of Science Wildflower Online Encyclopedia

Photographs of Chaparral, Desert, and Mountain Wildflowers

The Jepson Manual Higher Plants of California

Almaden Wildflowers

SIMPLE CHECKLISTS

AREA SPECIFIC BIRD LISTS

Birds of Buena Vista Area

Birds of the Kern River Parkway

Birds of Hart Park

Birds Of Pin Oak Park

Birds of the Kern National Wildlife Refuge

Birds of Pixley National Wildlife Refuge

Mammals of the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge

Mammals of the Kern National Wildlife Refuge

ILLUSTRATED CHECKLISTS

Kern Butterflies

Kern Dragonflies

Kern Fish

Kern River Valley Amphibians

Kern Reptiles and Amphibians

KRP Amphibians & Reptiles

Kern Birds

Kern Mammals

Kern River Watershed Rodents

Habitats

Plants

Flora of the Kern River Preserve

WILDLIFE

Living on this planet is what I perceive to be heaven. Finding a field of wildflowers fills me with gratitude for the magnificence of our earth. Being a naturalist makes me understand the intricate interrelationships of many of the plants and creatures. So many that are not especially beautiful upon first impression, may in fact end up being the key to an entire life cycle. Such is the nature of life, always respect what you understand the least and maybe someday one of your discoveries may in fact hold the key to the entire puzzle.

AREA MAPS 1925 Kern Wildflower Postcard

March 17, 2010 - A visit to Wind Wolves Preserve on Sunday was worth the visit, even though the bloom seemed to be a little early for peak. The foothills outside of Arvin on Hwy 223 are worth visiting. The Kern River Valley is sparkling with multiple locations. The baby blue eyes off the Lake Isabella Visitor Center Rd at Hwy 155 has begun to bloom. The forebay road off Sierra Way in northern Kernville is in full bloom. Reports are the bloom extends many miles up Mtn 99 beyond River Kern. Sierra Way has multiple blooms. The hills above Onyx and Fay Ranch Road are orange with poppies. This is going to be an amazing wildflower season.

March 8, 2010 - Reports are coming in from all over.
Bakersfield - Alfred Harrell Highway - fiddleneck, poppies, phacelia, gilia
Kern Canyon - Lower Canyon - poppies, fiddleneck, phacelia
WindWolves Preserve - fields of flowers open on weekends.
Kern National Wildlife Refuge - goldfields
Kern River Valley - Sierra Way north of Stine cove = coreopsis, poppies
Shell Creek - flowers up now they look to peak in a few weeks
Anza Borrego - some areas peaking now.

March 7, 2010 - A video from Windwolves Preserve shows massive fields of few flowered blue dicks, fiddleneck, popcorn flower and lupine.

March 4, 2010 - Azure skies filled with cottony lavender clouds sparingly lit the verdant hills of Kern County revealing the blaze of orange, yellow, white, purple and blue wildflowers decorating wide swaths of this precious earth.
Hwy 178 through the Kern River Canyon has fiddleneck, poppies, white fiesta flower, Bermuda buttercup, caterpillar and lacy phacelia in bloom.
Hwy 178 through Bakersfield has carpets of pink flowered red-stemmed filaree.
Alfred Harrell Hwy is amazing! From the Panorama bluffs to Hwy 178, there are flowers everywhere.
Lacy Phacelia grace the marine sediments on the west side of Hart Park with delicate to ever broadening blanket of lavender from near the ridge tops down to the road. Blue dicks sway in the breeze near the road as well as bird's eye gilia, fiddleneck, popcorn flower, blazing star, California mustard, tansy mustard, red-stemmed filaree, California poppy, and bladderpod.
The west entrance of Hart Park is covered with goldfields.

February 21, 2010 - Sierra Way is starting to show color. East of Rocky Point, lacy phacelia and Bigelow's tickseed (Coreopsis) are blooming in small patches.

The Kern Canyon has a few species of fiddleneck blooming as well as some white fiesta flower in the lower canyon.

Kern National Wildlife Refuge has wide swathes of alkali goldfields in bloom along the refuge drive.

February 18, 2010 - Rains are greening up the hillsides around the Kern River Valley. A quick trip around the valley over the weekend, I saw the leaves of many species of wildflowers beginning to unfurl but the bloom looks weeks away from producing any color. A few tansy mustard and red-stemmed filaree are blooming but nothing else so far.

Reports from the desert are similar. Cool mornings are holding plant growth in check. Soil moisture is good although the rains in fall were not enough to cause early germination and growth. Red Rock Canyon was barely showing any green near Red Cliffs. Death Valley has had some decent rain in the north and south with the central portions appearing to have a normal rain season so far. The park needs above normal rainfall to produce a good wildflower season. So the Scotty's Castle area might be good. Click here for the official Death Valley report.

I received a report from Clyde Golden that Woody Road has a nice bloom going and by next week it should be spectacular. Fiddleneck are blooming all over the Glennville/Woody area.

Some Places to Look and what to Look for

All depend on sufficient spring rain and mild temperatures

KERN VALLEY DESERT KELSO VALLEY KERN CANYON NORTH FORK KERN

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SAN LUIS OBISPO SIERRA NEVADA SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS

KERN VALLEY - Kern County

Lake Isabella Visitor Center @ Hwy 155: February - Mid April

baby blue eyes, blue dicks, cream cups, cushion catseye, fiddleneck, goldfields, hill sun cup, owl's clover, popcorn flower, red maids, spreading fleabane, filaree, slender keel fruit

Sierra Way between Kernville and Weldon (Hwy 178): Late February - Late March

bird's eye gilia, blue dicks, brown-eyed evening primrose, California poppy, caterpillar phacelia, chia, coreopsis, deer vetch, encelia, evening snow, fiddleneck, globe gilia, goldenbush, goldfields, Kernville poppy, miniature lupine, mustards, owl's clover, popcorn flower, stick leaf, filaree, thistle sage, slender keel fruit, white fiesta flower, deer vetch

Kernville to Wofford Heights: Early March - Early April

bird's eye gilia, Coulter's jewelflower, rock cress, Indian paintbrush, wild hyacinth, popcorn flower, and deer vetch

DESERT - Kern & Inyo Counties

Walker Pass to Hwy 14: Later February to Late March

Joshua tree, phacelia, Mojave sun cup, brittlebush

Hwy 14 to Short Canyon: Early March - Mid March

desert chicory, desert dandelions, phacelia, desert mallow

Short Canyon: Late February - early April

alyssum, arroyo lupine, bajada lupine, bird's eye gilia, birds foot evening primrose, bladder pod, blazing star, blue dicks, brittlebush, brown-eyed Primrose, California poppy, caterpillar phacelia, Charlotte's phacelia, chia, coreopsis, cream cups, desert chicory, desert dandelion, desert mallow, desert paintbrush, desert primrose, elegant lupine, Fiddleneck, four-wing saltbush, goldenbush, golden poppy, golden linanthus, goldfields, grape soda lupine, Indian paint brush, inflated buckwheat, iodine bush, Joshua tree, jewelflower, lacy phacelia, miniature lupine, Mojave evening primrose, Mojave sun cups, nude buckwheat, Parry's larkspur, pepper grass, pincushion, purple mat, popcorn flower, sage thistle, sand verbena, spectacle pod, tansy phacelia, yellowthroats, white fiesta flower

Red Rock Canyon State Park: March

coreopsis, sun cups, primrose, goldfields

Death Valley National Park: January - early April

Panamint catseye, brown-eyed evening primrose, desert gold, creosote, and sand verbena.

KELSO VALLEY

Kelso Creek: Early March - Early May

Bigelow's monkeyflower, bird's eye gilia, desert dandelion, desert star, Fremont's phacelia, goldfields, Joshua tree, Kelso Creek monkeyflower, Mojave sun cup, Pringle's wooly sunflower, purple mat, pygmy poppy, sandblossoms, silver cholla, sinuate gilia, filaree, white layia, white tidy tips,

Jawbone Canyon (east slope of the Piute Mountains): Late March - Early April baby blue eyes, California poppy, locoweed, miniature lupine, popcorn flower.

KERN CANYON

Hwy 178: Early March - Mid May

baby blue eyes, bindweed, bladderpod, California poppy, coreopsis, Coulter's jewelflower, fiddleneck, gilia, lupine, miner's lettuce, mustard, owl's clover, popcorn flower, Bermuda buttercup

NORTH FORK KERN - Kern & Tulare Counties

Mtn 99: (north of Kernville Kern and Tulare Counties): Mid April - Late May

bajada lupine, bush monkeyflower, California Yerba Santa, common monkeyflower, death camas, dudleya, fiesta flower, fleabane, golden violets, golden poppies, granite monkeyflower, grape soda lupine, Ithuriel's spear, Kern County larkspur, phacelia, popcorn flower, red maids, western wallflower, wooly pod

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - Kern & Tulare Counties

Hwy. 99: early - mid February

stone fruit orchards

Rancheria Road: Early March

blue dicks, California poppy, fiddleneck, lupines, popcorn flower

Northeast Bakersfield: Early March

blue dicks, owl's clover, phacelia

Bena Road - east of Bakersfield: Early March

bladderepod, California poppy, chia, fiddleneck, locoweed, lupine, owl's clover, phacelia, popcorn flower, white tidy tips

Caliente Creek Road: Early March

lupine, fiddleneck

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

Carrizo Plain National Monument: early February - late April

fiddleneck, filaree, tidy tips, thistle sage, owl's clover, encelia, eriophyllum, parry's mallow, unexpected larkspur

Shell Creek Road: February - Late March

lupine, owl's clover, gilia, yellow blazing star, common tidy tips, sierra tidy tips, pale yellow layia, desert dandelion, goldfields, grassland suncup, California evening primrose, Parry's mallow, scarlet buglar, branched Indian clover, white-tipped clover, tomcat clover, cows clover, yellow sweetclover, bur clover, bishop's lotus, redstem filaree, broad-leaf filaree, chaparral nightshade, fiddleneck, popcorn flower, forget-me-not, chia, thistle sage, Indian paint brush, linear leaved goldenbush, yellow yarrow, divaricate phacelia, blue dicks, California poppy, freckled milkvetch, baby blue eyes, desert pincushion, yellow pincushion.

SIERRA NEVADA - Kern & Tulare Counties

Sherman Pass Road: Early May - Mid July

blue dicks, columbine, death camas, golden ear drops, Monardellas, shooting stars

Nine-mile Canyon Road (Hwy 14. to Kennedy Meadows): mid May - mid June

grape soda lupine, pink gilia

Cherry Hill Road: Sequoia National Forest: Mid June - Late August

butterfly mariposa lily, lupine, mountain collomia, harlequin monkeyflower, pink gilia, phacelia, monkeyflower, Indian paintbrush, clover, lotus, tinctureplant, snow plant, crimson columbine, mountain blue bells, Parry's larkspur, cinquefoil, shooting stars, wild onions, blue-eyed marys, knotweed

Piute Mountains: Sequoia National Forest: early June - mid July

brodiaea, desert calico, Horkelias, mariposa lily, monkeyflowers, milkweeds, Monardellas, Palmer's mariposa lily, penstemon, phacelia, Spanish bayonet, vetch

SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS - Kern & Los Angeles Counties

Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve: mid March - late April

California poppy, coreopsis, cream cups, Davy gilia, fiddleneck, globe gilia, golden carpet, goldfields, paintbrush, lupine, phacelia, thistle sage, yellow throats

Wildflowers have been celebrated in Kern County since the area was discovered thousands of years ago by the first people to live here. In modern time's wildflower lover's have driven from all over to witness the spectacle. This postcard was produced in 1925 and attests to the popularity of wildflowers through the ages (Thanks to Terri for finding the postcard).

Nature Alley is dedicated to protecting natural communities wherever they exist. She is involved in many scientific and educational programs, promoting environmental appreciation and ethics.

Frontispiece: Poppies, popcorn flower, and miniature lupine fill the hills along the east side of The Piute Mountains on Jawbone Canyon Road - March 30, 2003