Superbloom of Bust
There is a natural phenomenon here is Southern California that occurs every few years. The “Golden” state is mostly covered with semi-arid landscape that I like to call chaparral. It creates a lovely golden backdrop on which outcroppings of green scrub oaks and such get highlighted. The other thing that happens is that the weeds that are native to California decide that it’s time to declare their presence the way weeds do, by blasting out the most colorful flowers of which they are capable. When this happens its called a desert bloom, but when it happens most vibrantly it is called a Superbloom.
The place where this is most noted is the area around Lake Elsinore, just north of here, but there is also a meaningful desert Superbloom that takes place in the Anza-Borego Desert. The dominant color palate that is offered up by the Superbloom is a blend of bright orange, vibrant yellow and a violet or purple. I am very familiar with all of those colors because I have them on display on my back hillside. When I planted out my back hillside I wanted to keep the front yard theme of succulents as much as I could, but, quite frankly, I wanted more color at more times of the year than succulents tend to offer. So, I mixed it up as much as I could. I am no landscape architect, so I did not lay out a color plan, but I did try to spread the different colors around as much as possible while maintaining a draught-tolerant aspect to all the plantings. I went to Green Thumb Nursery to specifically shop in their Native California Draught-Tolerant section. I thought that was the most responsible way to get wheat I wanted and still keep water usage down as much as possible.
I also went online to American Meadows and bought pounds of native California wildflower seeds. I have broadcast those seeds across several areas out on the back hillside and have created two very specific wildflower rock gardens. Those flowers are a combination of annuals, biannual, and perennials, with lots of what are called California poppies. The ever-changing colors of the wildflower beds are a source of great joy to me as I wander around the back hillside. I must say that as much as I like to think of myself as a gardener, I am realistic in knowing that compared to people who take their gardening most seriously, I am a rank amateur. And that’s OK. That fits nicely with my “Jack of all trades” approach to life. I garden for three reasons. I want to make the place look as good as possible. I want to get some natural exercise without going to the gym and while keeping myself busy. And I want the ability to sit in my garden and contemplate the beauty of nature. I accomplish all three with these wildflowers. I’m sitting on two more bags totaling 15 pounds of wildflower seeds and my challenge is to not overuse them since wildflowers do best if they have the room to prosper.
Tomorrow we have our first Hidden Meadows Garden Club gathering of the new season. It will be the first gathering under the tutelage of Kim and Melisa as co-presidents. And, it will be held at our house with the idea that a cuttings exchange is at the heart of the gathering, but the real agenda is a combination of visiting other people’s gardens and getting a nice free and social lunch. All of that will be happening. Kim is in charge of the lunch and I am in charge of making sure that the garden shows well and that I encourage people to take whatever cuttings they want. I may even give out some bags of wildflower seed. The great thing about succulents is that you can cut off a piece and replant it a day later and it will grow just great. It is all very easy.
So, today is Thursday and two things are driving me. The first is the usual schedule of the cleaning crew coming in to do their house cleaning blitz that forces us to leave the premises. The second is the combination of the nicer weather, the lack of anything else to do and a desire to see the Superbloom. A few years ago, before I had ever heard of the Superbloom, we happened to be heading out to Borego Springs when the bloom was in season. It was actually quite startling to see the pop of color all along the roadway from Warner Springs out to Borego Springs. I remember it quite vividly.
So, as I looked out over the back hillside this morning I saw the central rock garden and my northern wildflower garden. Both were ablaze with orange, yellow and purple. Spring comes early out here on the hillside and after the kind of rains we had in early January, all it has taken is the recent warming trend with temperatures finally getting up above 70 degrees again to get those flowers blooming. In some ways it is what most encouraged me to take a ride out to the desert today.
When I started out it was in the low 60’s with a forecast for about ten added degrees in the desert. It was a bright sunny day, so I headed out. I kept my eye out for blooms and finally, in Valley Center at one spot, I saw a small hillside that pointed directly at the sun that was brightly blooming with orange and yellow. I felt it bode well for what the desert would like like. It’s about 90 minutes to get to Borego Springs, so I skipped doing my normal ride up Mt. Palomar, which may have also been a bit chilly this early in the year. I flew past Lake Henshaw and noted that both the Cafe and the Hideout (a biker bar) were already bustling at 11am. I knew from prior experience that the blooms would only begin out by Warner Springs in the fields between the road and the eastern shore of Lake Henshaw. Traffic was light and it had warmed up a bit to the mid-60s in Valley Center, so everything seemed on track.
As I headed north on Rt.79 towards Warner Springs I was on the lookout. What I saw was normal late winter meadows that were still less spring gold and more sage green. Where I had previously seen large swaths of wildflowers out in the open meadows, there were none, which seemed strange. I took the right hand turn onto San Felipe Road that heads towards Ranchita and kept expecting to see some signs of color on the roadside. What I kept seeing was more sage and no blooms. What I also got was cold. By the time I got to Ranchita, the temperature had dropped to the mid-50s and I was actually feeling a bit chilly with just my light jacket on. I figured that maybe I needed to get down into the desert where it was warmer, but remained hopeful that I would start to see some color.
As I drove down the S22 or Montezuma Valley Road, a lovely mesa switchback road that takes you down several thousand feet to the valley floor of the Anza-Borego Desert, it did start to warm up again and rose through the 60’s to as high as 73, but all without any roadside colors. All I saw along the road were the camouflage colors of brown, khaki and sage. I literally didn’t see one flower by the side of the road, which almost seemed strange and intentional. It was like someone was hiding the flowers from me. When I got into Borego Springs I went to our regular eatery next to the Art Gallery, but it was closed. I know from experience that it doesn’t open until noon. As I sat outside and patiently waited, a woman come out and said they were behind schedule and wouldn’t open until 12:30. That was all I needed to go across the street to the more mundane diner and get a steak sandwich rather than a artisanal pizza. That pretty much sums up my trip to the Superbloom. It was a bust rather than a bloom and so I decided that I would just stay old school and head back the same way and treat it less like a sightseeing garden tour and more like a racetrack. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.