well off the beathen path

hite cove trail poppies and South Fork of the Merced River below a photo by Mrs Rachel on Flickr. Is it happening yet? Have you seen them? Where? Zillions of web sites and pages referencing wildflowers in California. The best imagery can be found on Flickr searches, which landed me on this incredible shot by Rachel. Total Escape covers California wildflower reporting starting in March each year.

For those of you who haven't been out to see the wildflowers this Spring, you are missing the best show in decades! These little beauties are short lived. Certain canyons on the coast may bloom for months, but most of inland California has pockets of color, sporadically, lasting a weeks at most. You can drive past a spectacular bloom one week and the next week it's gone. Peak season means a very temporary window of opportunity for wildflower viewing . California flora blossoms, opens to glorious color during warm sunshine and then vanishes a week later. Gorman @ Tejon is about to explode very soon. Carrizo & Wind Wolves already peaked. Lower Kern is delightful. Klipstein Canyon off Hwy 166 is blooming alive. Remember the higher the elevation, the later the bloom. 1000' to 4000' (prime time now, April 2010)