Just in time to get a mention in the last report of 2025, two exquisite new plants serendipitously blossomed this week in the Theodore Payne Foundation gardens. One is the Humboldt lily a tall, slim beauty arising from a bulb and growing sometimes to 8 feet. It is bejeweled with large orange flowers stippled with maroon splotches. Watch the hummingbirds flock to it! The other plant starting to bloom in the garden is mock orange. The perfumed citrusy fragrance beguiles visitors to swoon over masses of lovely white blossoms extended from long, arched branches. It is a handsome shrub and one of California’s most fragrant plants. Other areas of the gardens still have perennial favorites blooming into late spring, early summer including the ever-cheery sunflower, showy penstemon, Matilija poppy, and our favorite flower from early spring through early summer, the California poppy.

In the foothills of the mighty Sierra Nevada, when the landscape fades to a golden brown and the wildflowers have mostly progressed to seed, up pops the harvest brodiaea through the spent flowers and grasses. This deep purple charmer emerges from underground bulbs and zillions of them brighten up the drying landscape like the last fireworks of a celebration event. Harvest brodiaea is the true harbinger of summer. After an industrious spring for flowers, pollinators and curious posy peepers, the days of rest draw near and longing for next spring begins.

At Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, the Airplane Monument Loop Trail is filled with flowers, despite this being a half-normal-rainfall year! The cute little summer snow carpets the ground along much of the route. This is an amazing place for all gilia species. A total of five different species can be found including pink angel’s gilia, blue globe gilia, volcanic gilia and purple spot gilia. Best surprise though, white fairy lanterns are in bloom in great numbers everywhere along the route. Cuyamaca is an easy and pleasant hike. If you never explored this gem of a State Park, do so now while so many annual wildflowers are still in bloom.

In Southern California, the valleys and foothills are fading, leaving behind fruit and seed for next year’s germination. Above 4000 feet in elevation however, many spring wildflowers are just coming into glorious bloom.

Back in March when we first reported on the wildflower awakening on Figueroa Mountain in the Los Padres Nation Forest, there wasn’t hope for a super display this year. A wildfire had scourged the area in July of 2024. Certainly, some post fire annuals would show up, but with so much devastation and little winter rainfall, it was thought that wildflowers would be sparse and short-lived. A different story emerged, however. A field reporter returned to Figueroa Mountain five times over the spring to photo document an amazing wildflower succession over two months. You have read these chronicles in TPF’s Wildflower Hotline reports this spring. The 5th trip last week found, once again, the wildflower display was good with a variety of new species replacing the earlier spring blooms. Most of the California poppy and purple lupine displays have faded, as have the chia, blue dicks, globe gilia and fiesta flowers. Instead, the displays included several late-season flowers. The lovely ruby chalice clarkia, showy elegant clarkia, California hedge nettle, California cudweed, Catalina Mariposa lily, butter lupine, pacific pea, purple pagodas, fringed onion, miner’s lettuce, common phacelia, and scorpion weed were widespread. The presence of so many clarkias, a.k.a “farewell-to-spring,” makes one wonder how long Figueroa Mountain will continue to debut new wildflower species. It was indeed a successful wildflower season on Figueroa Mountain in 2025.

Driving along Hwy 74 in the San Jacinto Mountains, you will come upon Morris Ranch Road in Garner Valley. The road is lined with flowers in its uphill section, including a nice stand of grape soda lupine at the beginning of the south fork of the San Jacinto River. The Bajada lupine is in full bloom along the immediate roadside as well. The sunny yellow interior goldenbush is starting to brighten up the region while the smaller chia sage is filling in spaces between them making for a nice purple and yellow color combination. There are pleasing blooms on the lower part of the Cedar Spring Trail, including Davidson’s phacelia, prickly phlox, common forget-me-nots, baby blue eyes, and hairy lotus. Cupped leaf ceanothus, Eastwood manzanita, and pink bracket manzanita are in lovely bloom there too. On the sun exposed upper part of the trail, wild canterbury bells are a delight to behold dotting the landscape with their purple-blue color. Near the top of the trail, pretty pink Johnston’s rockcress was scattered about. This area is just starting to bloom well and should be good to visit during the next month or so if it doesn’t get too hot.

May 16, 2025

Welcome to the Theodore Payne Foundation’s 42nd year of the Wildflower Hotline. The Hotline offers weekly on-line and recorded updates on the best locations for viewing spring wildflowers in Southern and Central California.

In Southern California, the valleys and foothills are fading, leaving behind fruit and seed for next year’s germination. Above 4000 feet in elevation however, many spring wildflowers are just coming into glorious bloom.

Manzanitas and ceanothus species have faded from their bloom in most regions of Southern California below 3500 feet. In San Diego county’s Laguna Mountains, however, manzanitas and ceanothus are still putting on a spectacular show especially along the Garnet Peak Loop trail. I’ll add a note that the Pacific Crest Trail connects here in the Laguna Mountains as well. One scenic route to arriving to the Garnet Peak Loop trail is travelling along SR76 south from Palomar Mountain. Flowers along the south side of Palomar are mostly done. Clearly spring is mostly over there. However, starting in Santa Ysabel Valley to Julian, spring is still going full blast. Somehow the blue chaparral whitethorn is still blooming gangbusters there. Fields of cream cups and lupine are painting the landscape with pastel colors. The yellow lupine or California golden banner is in bloom in a field just before Julian and just past Julian, the white palmer’s ceanothus is in glorious full bloom. There are a few patches of goldfields just above Lake Cuyamaca, and some stunning areas of redbuds along Sunrise Highway. Also spotted is serviceberry in full bloom near the beginning of Garnet Peak Trail at Sunrise Highway. One month ago, there were essentially no flowers in this area, and very little annual germination. An amazing transformation occurred in the last month, to have tons of flowers here! On the Garnet Peak trail, the star bloomers are cupped leaf ceanothus and chaparral whitethorn producing slopes of white from the cupped leaf ceanothus and rivers of blue from the chapparal whitethorn. Close to Garnet Peak, pink bracted manzanita with its deep pink flowers, joined the show. There are also good patches of Eastwood manzanita in bloom in several places along this route. Garnet Peak is covered with rocky slopes of Laguna Mountain goldenbush, an endemic species to this area. There are abundant annuals and perennials in places. Close to the trailhead there are baby blue eyes, strigose lotus, coastal gilia, and Washoe phacelia among others. Garnet Peak was beautiful now, so make the trip soon.

With a massive bloom of speckled clarkia, spring is winding down in the foothill country of the southern Sierra. Intermingling with the speckled clarkia, the spring madia are still in bloom. Also, prominent both along the highways and the trails, are the fragrant California buckeye, an abundance of bright yellow rock bush monkey flower and creamy white blooms of blue elderberry. Along oak grove trails one will still find colorful patches of mustang clover and the elegant Ithuriel’s spear. While the speckled clarkia is the one most impressive, two other farewell-to-spring species are found here and announcing the long hot quiet summer season: elegant clarkia and the lovely four spot clarkia.