What to Know
- Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, located a couple of hours northeast of San Diego, is California's largest state park
- Past years have seen superblooms, when a good amount of rain has fallen at the right time
- A superbloom isn't expected in 2022, but there will be flowers to admire on late-winter and early-spring hikes
CHEESEBUSH, DUSKY ONION, WHISKERBUSH? Even a non-avowed poet, the sort of person who diligently avoids painting florid scenes with words, would be swept up by the incredible names of the desert's wildflowers. But the poetry-perfect handles of these spectacular specimens aren't the only things to like about them, of course: There are all of the bright colors they boast, from pink to purple to yellow, to where they grow, atop cactuses, bushes, and very, very close to the ground, and the fact that they may appear in profusion, or not so much, depending on recent precipitation, when the rain fell, and how much there was, among other meteorological matters. The desert wildflower is, in short, an icon of California's arid areas, beloved, sought after, and regularly mooned over, even by people who don't normally go in for mooning over such things.
ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, the Golden State's most gargantuan state park (yep, we're being a bit poetical there: It's the largest), just updated its devoted flower-seeking fans as to what we can expect in 2022, superbloom-wise. This is where we type "sigh," for a superbloom, that carpet of blossoms seen in some bygone years, the ones with plenty of rain, is not expected come March-ish, or even around April, but visitors will find plenty of cactus flowers to admire, and trees lush with wee flowerets. Have you ever stood before a palo verde tree that's just bursting with small yellow flowers, with their maroon-hued hearts? It's a stunning sight, one that would inspire any person to break out an impromptu poem, right on the spot.
THE RECENT UPDATE... from the park's team regarding the upcoming wildflower bloom was posted to Facebook on Jan. 28, 2022, and you can read more here about what to expect in the coming weeks. Of course, any day in the Anza-Borrego is as pretty as poetry, but then all our fellow superbloomies already know that, whether there are lavish carpets of desert wildflowers to admire or simply a few stunning trees and colorful cactuses.
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Pictured: A past year in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
