Wildflowers & the Desert in Bloom

In a good year, the high desert throws a wildflower show that stops traffic — washes of gold and purple across ground that looked dead a month before. In an average year it's subtler, and in a dry year it barely happens at all. Here's how the desert bloom works and how to catch it.

It all comes down to winter rain

Desert wildflowers are a gamble on the weather. A run of well-spaced rains from autumn through winter, without a hard freeze or a drying wind at the wrong moment, sets up a strong spring. A dry winter means a quiet one. Because of that, no one can promise a bloom months out — you watch the rain, then watch the reports.

When and where to look

As a rough guide, the lower, warmer elevations bloom first and the higher ground follows:

• Late February to April — the lower southern end of Joshua Tree (the Pinto Basin, the Cottonwood area and the park's south approach) tends to go first.
• March into May — the higher central park and the open desert along Highway 62 catch up.
• After any real rain — the ocotillo leaf out green and flower red, and even the creosote flats can surprise you.

What you'll see

Look for desert dandelion, desert marigold, brittlebush, chia, lupine and chuparosa, and — briefly and spectacularly — the flowers of the beavertail and cholla cactus. The park and desert-nature sites post wildflower updates through the season, so check them a few days before you drive out, and ask a ranger at the visitor center where it's popping.

See it without cooking it

Bloom season is also warming season, so treat it like any desert outing: early light is best for both the flowers and your comfort, stay on trails and roadsides so you don't trample the very thing you came for, and never pick. And you don't always have to go far — after a wet winter, the cactus garden here at the house puts on its own small show.