Poppy Visitor Center Makes Its Seasonal Debut

We're not quite at peak poppydom yet, but the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center is now open, so poppy by.

What to Know

  • Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center opened on March 1, 2019
  • Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
  • Bloom is expected from mid-March into April, but check the reserves social pages

Did the California poppies, at least the ones found around the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, check the poppycast, which is like the weather, but for poppies, and see how wet it would be over the first weekend in March?

And did the flowers get super-stoked, because hydration is good, and did they plan for the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center to open on the first day of March?

Well, truth: There is no poppycast, made for poppies, that we know of, and the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center, which is indeed located at the reserve, traditionally opens on the first day of March.

Which is one of the big signs that the poppy scene will soon be orange-ing up the gentle and pretty hills of the reserve.

And while a superbloom isn't expected in 2019, word on the reserve is that a "great bloom" is on its way, at least as far as predictions went earlier in February.

The center is quite the resource for poppy people making the trek to the reserve, for there's a gift shop, displays, picnic tables, information, and more.

Local

Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.

Good Samaritan attacked while helping woman who was robbed in Long Beach

Grupo Firme announces first U.S. tour in nearly a year in the heart of Hollywood 

Good stuff.

Also good? Staying on the official trails, and not wandering into the flowers for your photographs. It helps the plants thrive and helps you not be in the snapshots of strangers.

Also good? You can follow the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve's social pages, to see get the flowery 411.

A post on Feb. 25 trumpeted that "(t)he first poppies have started blooming!" 

"Most poppy plants don't have their first buds yet, so we expect the bloom will be best starting mid-March and may last through April."

Sweet.

As sweet? That there's a terrific center, that's now open for the season, a place that can help us with our poppy-related queries.

No, there's no poppycast, which, if it existed, would report the weather as it pertains solely to poppies, but there are legions of flower fans that want to see a lot of orange in the hills.

And soon, too.

That could happen, for March is here, and the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center is now open, a big sign that orange-tastic times are on the horizon.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us