Colder-than-normal weather this year has also meant a delayed spring, so Bay Area residents still have a chance to experience amazing blooms. The cooler climate of Northern California also means that blooms tend to occur later in the year compared with Southern California. The state’s famous superblooms are beginning to appear. Richard (left) and Virginia Wong of Richmond enjoy their monthly picnic sitting amid wildflowers at Fort Cronkhite in the Marin Headlands Friday. The North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, near Oroville, is another amazing wildflower site because grasses don’t do well on its volcanic soil, Eviner added. “The South Bay hills have a lot of serpentine soils where there are a lot of native wildflowers that do great,” Eviner said. Grasses can’t thrive in harsh soils, but wildflowers are adapted to grow in such low-nutrient places. The geology of the land and its connected soil composition matter, too. One such place is the chaparral environments of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, in the Mayacamas Mountains between Sonoma and Napa counties, which experienced wildfire in recent years. “We tend to have very good blooms right after wildfires, because a lot of fires will kill a lot of those grass seeds,” Eviner said. Wildflowers must compete with more grasses in Northern California than in Southern California. Wildflowers bloom along the Turtle Back Trail at China Camp State Park in San Rafael. That’s why wildflowers in Northern California typically do best in spaces where grass doesn’t dominate. Grasses generally grow faster, outcompeting a lot of the wildflowers. This is why Northern California blooms are more site-dependent and patchy. “It’s a story of competition,” Shafer said. It’s a different situation in the northern part of the state, where wildflowers contend with denser vegetation and annual grasses, which also thrive following wet winters. “They become the dominating feature in the landscape,” Fraga said. A mass bloom also increases the chances that pollinators help out with flower reproduction and the production of seeds for future plants.
Superblooms that fill out sparse desert ecosystems aren’t just taking advantage of prime growing conditions. This year hasn’t produced a superbloom, according to a March 17 post from the park’s Facebook page. While most of Northern California, and the Bay Area, saw precipitation totals far above average in recent months, the historic rains weren’t as relentless in Southern California. Spring wildflower superblooms in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, about two hours northeast of San Diego, typically take off when winter precipitation surpasses the average of about 3 inches. “Because they evolved together to bloom at slightly different times, they’re sharing those resources without crowding each other out.” said Kate Rabuck, deputy director of the Sonoma Botanical Garden. Distinct native wildflower species are able to coexist within the same space. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesĪn exceptional superbloom can produce sequential waves of color, like a solid mass of yellow California buttercups that transforms into an expanse of violet phacelia.
Historic levels of rainfall fell in some parts of California, amid a barrage of atmospheric river winter storms, which has led to a superbloom of wildflowers in certain parts of the state this spring. Wildflowers bloom near Carrizo Plain National Monument on April 13 following an unusually wet winter near Santa Margarita (San Luis Obispo County). “They're all in the soil seed bank waiting for that year of substantial rain,” Fraga said. During drought years, rather than struggling to thrive, they remain dormant underground. In these environments, plant species must take advantage of wet conditions quickly, with only a few weeks or months to live and reproduce before things warm up.
Thinking of a superbloom, rare bursts of annual wildflowers in desert regions like Death Valley likely come to mind. “We’re a little more subtle and relaxed up here.” “We’re not as flashy and bold as Southern California,” said Cyndy Shafer, natural resource program manager for the Bay Area District of California State Parks.
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