2025.05.15 | A Bloom to Remember!

This year’s wildflower bloom on the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve was super – the best in years – but was it a “super bloom”?  Since the term super bloom has no technical meaning, the answer is up for debate.

     What brings about a super bloom, though, is agreed upon.  First, a place needs to have annual wildflowers, which are plants that undergo their life cycle within one year, and second, those wildflowers need to have produced a lot of seed.

     Wildflower seeds start growing after the first rain in fall.  The plants grow strong roots during the winter, then their flowers burst into blossom in the spring, producing more seeds.  As summer dries out, the plants die but their seed protects the next generation.  When a dry year follows a dry year, seeds build up in the soil, waiting for the right conditions to grow again.  There is no super bloom without a lot of seed.

     Third, rain is essential for wildflowers to put on a great show.  Although Cambria got around average rainfall this winter, it came at the perfect time for the flowers, especially the coastal California poppies (Eschscholzia californica).  Along with the perennial flowers, including seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus), and coastal bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus), the poppies were spectacular with their yellow and orange petals.  The perennial California sea pinks (Armeria maritima ssp. californica) are always dependable.

     Take some time to walk the Bluff Trail while the flowers are still spectacular.  It does not happen every year, but when it comes, it is a floral wonderland!