In California, Winter Deluge Brings Desert Blooms

The desert is blossoming with wildflowers in Southern California.

For the second time in two years, an event known as a “superbloom” is occurring.

A superbloom usually happens every 10 years or so, but heavy rains have created the ideal climate for Mother Nature’s spectacular display of flowers in the desert.

The appearance of desert lilies in December heralded the possibility that Mother Nature was about to stage a show, and she did not disappoint.

The pageantry can best be seen in California’s 640,000 acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, northeast of San Diego, where visitors can wander among the fanfare of hot pink Bigelow’s Monkey Flower, purple Sand Verbena, and white and yellow Evening Primrose. The desert lilies continue to thrive. Orange poppies that have sprouted along Southern California highways are also expected to bloom soon in the desert.

“There’s just an abundance in where it’s blooming and it’s coming in waves,” Betsy Knaak, executive director of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural HistoryAssociation, told the Associated Press.

Mike McElhatton, the educational program director of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association, told AccuWeather “in the past, we have seen only small concentrations in select valleys.” He added, “This year, it already appears that a vast majority of the 50-mile park will be in bloom.”

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