Wildflower season has arrived in Southern California. Here's what to expect
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Here's what you need to know to start your weekend:
The rain has subsided and it's finally time to visit colorful wildflower displays across the region.
But uneven rain patterns across the state mean the wildflower situation will be inconsistent. Northern California, which got more rain than usual, will see big superblooms. In Southern California, not so much. But there are still flower-viewing options.
The flower fields need a good soaking in the winter to germinate, my colleague Jeanette Marantos wrote in her plants newsletter.
That's not what happened this rainy season. Downtown L.A. has received 6.55 inches of rain since the water year began Oct. 1. That is below the average for this point in the water season, 11.88 inches.
That means we're unlikely to see large-scale blooms.
'Wildflowers need three things to give us a copious spring bloom — seeds in the ground, plenty of moisture and a few weeks of mild, cool temperatures in the 60s and low 70s,' botanist Naomi Fraga told Jeanette.
Just because poppies won't blanket our hills like in previous years, doesn't mean there won't be beautiful flowers to admire across the state.
Other perennial native plants such as monkey flowers, phlox, sages, buckwheats and manzanitas will be in bloom. Here's how you can find them.
Call the Wild Flower Hotline, which provides free weekly updates on the best locations for viewing spring wildflowers in Southern and Central California.
Visit your local botanical garden. California Botanic Garden in Claremont, the state's largest botanic garden devoted to California native plants, and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the second largest, are great options.
California Botanic Garden is hosting a free Native Plant Festival on March 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to highlight the beauty, variety and resiliency of the state's native ecosystems.
Drive to see the Turkish flower fields. Farther south near San Diego, the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch boast 55 acres of ranunculus flowers that typically bloom for six to eight weeks.
Ranunculus flowers, also known as Persian buttercups, are native to Turkey but have been grown along the northern San Diego County coast for at least 90 years, Times reporter Christopher Reynolds wrote.
Through Mother's Day, experience the magical ranunculus fields of bright pink, orange, yellow and white flowers at the ranch while also enjoying a 300-feet-by-170-feet American flag made from red, white and blue petunias; a 5-acre 'sea of sunflowers;' and greenhouse displays of poinsettias and Cymbidium orchids.
The real superblooms, though, can be found in Northern California where rainfall has been above average all winter, setting the stage for a spring season of stunning wildflower superblooms.
California businesses are reeling from Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs
In Altadena and Pacific Palisades, burned lots are hitting the market
Tesla drivers are pushing back on Elon Musk
Federal lawmakers are calling on the Trump administration to nix a plan to shoot 450,000 owls, citing cost
More big stories
Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.
What do the dead have to say to the living?
The Life After Life Club in an Orange County retirement community explores trance channeling, the power of animal communication and near-death experiences. It recently hosted a psychic.
More great reads
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
Going out
Staying in
Lady Gaga's new album, 'Mayhem,' comes just about a month before she's set to headline which California desert music festival? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
What is the Florida weather forecast for Father's Day? What to know
Before you get ready to fire up the grill or make your Father's Day beach plans, it might be a good idea to check the weather. Dad's day comes right as Florida traditionally serves up afternoon thunderstorms and surprise rain showers. It also comes right after the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season starts, and the National Hurricane Center is currently watching three tropical waves out there. But experts aren't expecting anything to develop any time soon. "None of the reputable forecast models are showing a realistic chance of anything tropical forming on the Atlantic side of Central America through mid-month," said Dr. Ryan Truchelut, chief meteorologist with WeatherTiger. But this is Florida, so that doesn't mean dad won't get wet. Rain is possible across the state, but the Peninsula is forecast to have a greater-than-33% chance of precipitation from June 14 through the 18th, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. North and Central Florida are expected to have their historical amounts of rainfall and South Florida may be dryer than usual. For this time of year, that still means rain. Feeding dad: Father's Day 2025 food deals and specials for fast food, restaurant chains in Florida As of June 9, the NWS is forecasting: , western Panhandle: Showers and thunderstorms are expected all week into the weekend, with an 80% chance of rain on Sunday as of June 9. Weekend temps are expected to be in the mid 80s. , central Panhandle: Showers and thunderstorms likely all week, mostly in the afternoons. Chance of rain is 70% during the weekend, with highs in the low 90s. , North Florida: Chances of showers and thunderstorms will increase through the week with an80% chance of precipitation on the weekend. Weekend temps will be in the low 90s. across to and down to Stuart: Showers and thunderstorms possible in the mornings and afternoons all week, with a 50% chance Saturday and a 40% chance Sunday. Temps in the 80s. to : South Florida: Storms possible all week, with 50% chance of precipitation on Saturday and Sunday on the east coast, 60% on the Gulf Coast. Temps in the mid 80s. to , Southwest Florida: Scattered showers and thunderstorms possible all week, with high heat indexes around Fort Myers in the beginning of the week. By the weekend, expect isolated showers and a 50% chance of rain, with highs in the low 90s.. Father's Day is always the third Sunday in June. This year that's Sunday, June 15. Mother's Day started as a commercial holiday in 1908 and was made an official holiday in six years later by President Woodrow Wilson. Father's Day started in response to Mother's Day with the first celebration in 1910, but it took six decades to become official. According to the country's first event explicitly in honor of fathers occurred as a one-time event in 1908 in memory of the 361 men killed in the Monongah, West Virginia mining disaster that left more than a thousand children without a dad the year before. It had been suggested by Grace Golden Clayton, the daughter of a minister. A year later, Sonora Smart Dodd, who was one of six children raised by a twice married, twice widowed Civil War veteran, began advocating for a day to honor the "loving service" of fathers. In 1909, she talked the Spokane Ministerial Association to honor fathers nationwide for their dedication to their families and by 1910, Washington became the first state to celebrate a statewide Father's Day. Father's Day celebrations were slow to be accepted, with some calling a day for gifts and flowers unmanly and others calling for a single Parents Day. But shops promoted it during the Great Depression as a way to get people to spend money and it took off during World War II as a way to support the troops. Presidents Wilson and Calvin Coolidge both recognized it, but it wasn't until 1966 that President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation designating the date. President Richard Nixon made it a permanent national holiday in 1972. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Father's Day forecast for Florida is stormy and hot. What to expect
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Mapped: Canada's wildfires are impacting air quality in these US communities
Smoke from wildfires still raging in Canada is degrading air quality across the northern U.S., turning skies a murky orange hue and forcing sensitive groups indoors. In New York, the smoke could be seen in the upper atmosphere from satellites, and an air quality alert was in effect until 11 p.m. Thursday evening. Poor air quality was also in store for Chicagoans, who were told to reduce time spent outdoors. Government maps showed the worst levels of particle pollution around the Windy City and Detroit, with the latter under an advisory through noon on Friday. In Chicago, one area saw an Air Quality Index at a level of 157, which is deemed 'unhealthy.' The particle pollution can affect the eyes, throat, lungs, and heart. Sometimes, it can even lead to premature death. 'It's probably a good idea to limit time outside,' Kevin Doom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. 'Doing a lot of heavy breathing is probably not ideal on a day like today.' Forecasters said there's a chance an alert there would be extended into Friday, as temperatures across much of the eastern U.S. continue to spike ahead of a rainy weekend. Some of the haze also has to do with ozone pollution, which is linked to that heat. 'On hot and sunny days, especially in urban areas, heat and sunlight react chemically with pollutants in the air to form ground-level ozone, which can be very irritating to people with respiratory problems,' WNBC's Lauren Maroney warned. In the U.S., wildfires have burned in Minnesota, Florida, and the West. There have been more than 1.1 million acres torched to date across the country, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. There are more than 200 active wildfires raging in Canada, and more than 6.4 million acres have burned since the start of the year. Two new blazes were reported on Thursday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. The deadly fires have resulted in the deaths of two people and forced tens of thousands of people to flee. Officials in Mantiboa and Saskatchewan have declared a state of emergency. Manitoba skies have turned a ruby red color. "I've never seen anything like it," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said, according to CBC News. Climate change is helping to stoke the flames of wildfires around the world each year, bringing even hotter and drier conditions. As smoke continues to impact millions in the northern U.S., it is heading South. AccuWeather said it might collide with a 2,000-mile-wide plume of Saharan dust later this week. 'This appears to be the largest Saharan dust plume to reach America so far this year,' Lead Hurricane Expert Alex Dasilva said in a statement.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Photos reveal surreal scenes from global effort to grow ice in the desert: 'It's a matter of survival'
Ski resort snowmaking crews might want to keep an eye on a United Nations team working in Kyrgyzstan. That's because experts from the agency's Food and Agriculture Organization are creating glaciers, according to The Times of Central Asia. The fascinating project is meant to ease the impact of our planet's overheating by providing a reliable source of water for rural communities. NASA reported that as Earth warms, heat waves are becoming more intense, making some places uninhabitable. Seven artificial glaciers were successfully created in 2024, amassing 59.2 million cubic feet of ice. During the summer, the stored water can irrigate more than 4,324 acres of farmland, which can be increased greatly with improved irrigation systems, per the report. "The key is to choose the right location," U.N. water-saving expert Matraim Jusupov said in the Times report. "We channel water from a mountain spring through a pipeline ending in a vertical pipe 10-15 meters (32.8-49.2 feet) high. The elevation difference generates pressure, which allows us to spray water into the air. At sub-zero temperatures, it freezes and gradually forms an ice cone." According to the report, the planet's 275,000 glaciers, along with ice sheets, store 70% of our fresh water. However, they have been vanishing more rapidly during the last six years. Glaciers continue to melt as the world warms, and the ice loss is astounding. The World Meteorological Organization reported that 9 trillion tons of glacial mass has trickled away since 1975, not including continental sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. This, in turn, contributes to sea-level rise. The higher tides are endangering communities on each U.S. coast. It's evidenced by more flooding being reported, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. To build the Kyrgyzstan glaciers, per the Times report, the team put in 22,821 feet of pipe. Experts oversaw a work team of local residents who will enjoy the stable water supply. They are among the hundreds of millions of people whose freshwater sources are jeopardized by disappearing ice fields once considered eternal. Now, scientists fear they might not make it through the century. Israeli company Nostromo is also using stored ice to provide a resource for later use. In the case of the company's IceBrick, frozen water is stored in a rooftop system using renewable energy. At night, the ice can provide air conditioning during peak-use hours, cutting down reliance on the grid and reducing air pollution. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Discussing the amazing innovations and ideas is a great way to start conversations with friends and family about our planet's health. Most homeowners can benefit from some easy upgrades, especially if they have an old HVAC system or other appliances. Heat pumps, for example, serve as a heat and AC source with efficient service that can lower the power bill. What's more, tax breaks to reduce the initial expense are still available. In Kyrgyzstan, the U.N. team plans to continue making glaciers, with efforts started in other regions, per the Times. "Preservation of glaciers is not just an environmental, economic, and societal necessity. It's a matter of survival," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in the organization's report. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
