This spring’s flower season in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park may not attain the status of “superbloom,” but it’s going to be a “pretty good year,” according to those who know the park’s 600,000 acres well.
“We had a warm winter and had that nice rain in the fall and more rain in December,” says Betsy Knaak, executive director of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association. “The rain was a good soaker, so it means the moisture got down where the seeds are. If it floods and runs off, or if it rains a little bit then gets really hot, it dries out the soil.”
The lack of wind also has prevented evaporation from the desert floor.
February, March and April are the busiest months for the park and the town of Borrego Springs, which sits wholly within the park. Its year-round population of 3,000 swells to about 10,000 when visitors from around the globe arrive to see dozens of species of flowers, and blooming cactuses turn portions of the otherwise muted landscape into panoramas of color.
“This is just the beginning,” Knaak says. “Most of the flowers are just getting going. On Henderson Canyon Road, we are seeing (purple) verbena and white evening primrose. We are seeing leaves of the (blue-purple) lupine and the (white) desert lily. There are (yellow) desert dandelions, (indigo) phacelia, (yellow and white) rockdaisy, (pale pink) Spanish needles and (white or pink) tuberosa.”
Photo by Laurie Brindle
And that’s not all.
“In a couple of weeks, when you come down the Montezuma Grade (Montezuma Valley Road or S22), the (yellow) brittlebush is going to cover the hills.”
Many flowers in the canyons and above the valley floor are still in the germination phase, Knaak adds, “so we don’t know what it’s going to be like, but there’s going to be a lot of variety this year.”
Even without a spring bloom, the park and Borrego Springs offer plenty to do. Among the not-to-miss are the incredible works of artist Ricardo Breceda.
He has populated nearby private properties with 133 bigger-than-life metal sculptures depicting animals that roamed the desert floor 6 million to 7 million years ago when it was lush, humid and green, as well as mythological creatures and modern-era humans — both historic and whimsical.
A map from the natural history association guides visitors to wooly mammoths, peccaries, saber-tooth cats, llamas, dinosaurs and horses. Among the most popular creatures is the 350-foot dragon-serpent that appears to burrow under Borrego Springs Road and reemerge on the other side.
Breceda has been called an “accidental artist” because of his serendipitous encounter with philanthropist Dennis Avery. The two met in 2007, and Avery commissioned the artist to create and install his works on some of the 3,000 acres near Borrego Springs he had purchased to save from development.
“(Avery) meant the world to me,” Breceda said in an interview after the philanthropist died in 2012 at age 71. “He was a great man. He was a good friend of mine. What can I say? I owe him my life.”
Breceda’s studio sits along Highway 79 in the desert community of Aguanga (population 1,000), where visitors can wander through hundreds of his works, large and small. Inspection reveals that Breceda not only gives his creatures size but detail: feathers, scales, eyelashes, claws, manes and teeth.
To avoid the crowds, midweek trips to the park are preferable. The natural history association’s website stays current on the bloom. Whatever your desert activity, bring water and snacks and wear a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and close-toed shoes.
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