I wondered what folks expect in the way of desert wildflower and cactus bloom for 2014?
I have tried to keep track and it seems there has been above average rainfall in 2013....but what areas?
Any ideas for when and where to travel would be great.
Aldervale
North Oregon Coast
CNPS
huesos - 12-22-2013 at 11:46 AM
I used to travel down with a guy named Walt (?) and a bunch from California Native Plant Society LA. Does any one still run these excursions? We used
to get some very knowledgeable individuals on these trips.Hook - 12-22-2013 at 11:51 AM
I dont think much can be determined for the blooming in 2014, by looking at how much rain fell in 2013.
Desert plants are more opportunistic than that. The rains of 2014 will determine the blooms of 2014, IMO.
So, look towards predictions for moisture in 2014. I doubt anyone has them out, yet, except maybe the Farmer's Almanac, and I would question its
methodology these days.Ken Cooke - 12-22-2013 at 01:14 PM
From what I saw in November, anywhere from San Felipe, northward. The Laguna Salada was completely inundated with mud, so be careful when traveling
south towards Guadalupe Canyon. We encountered deep mud and had to turn our locked Jeeps back to Hwy 2. Here is what we saw on Nov. 23rd, 2013.
Laguna Salada - November 2013
bajabuddha - 12-23-2013 at 01:27 AM
40 years of desert-dogging from the Great Salt Lake Basin, Colorado Plateau, Baja, and all points in between, there is very little correlation between
last (this) years' rainfall and bloom next season. It's a huge toss of dice, both in moisture, temperatures, humidity and even perenial averages of
each species. All i can say is, 'be where you are when you're there'. If someone says there's a bloom in Yuma or Blythe or Green River Ut, RUN FOR
IT with camera at the ready, and you've got about a 5-day wax, 5-day run, and 5-day wane.
I've been blessed to have witnessed about 3 '100-year blooms' in my travels, wasted hundreds of dollars in 35mm film that could never capture the full
picture or smells (especially the Fragrant Sand Verbena) at sunset and nightfall. Just watch the boards, and keep asking, and have your sleeping bag
and kit at the ready, and run..... just run..........
bb.
oops, forgot tomention, once got into a great carpet bloom going into Bahia L. A. about 15 years ago.... purple verbena, black-eyed susans and
globemallow for miles. Entire valleys in flourescense. One more time, puh-lease!!!
[Edited on 12-23-2013 by bajabuddha]ligui - 12-23-2013 at 06:58 AM
I think she is just asking since baja has had so much rain this year what will it look like this spring .
Hook - 12-23-2013 at 11:49 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by ligui
I think she is just asking since baja has had so much rain this year what will it look like this spring .
I think it will still be determined by how much rain falls this spring.
I've seen lots of early Nov/Dec rain in Anza Borrego, only to have the wildflower season be poor because nothing fell in Jan-Mar.
You might be able to extrapolate a little from this website. It's the best one I've found for wildflower predictions/reports, NOB.
[Edited on 12-23-2013 by Hook]
Walt Wheelock/ La Siesta Press ???
David K - 12-23-2013 at 11:53 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by huesos
I used to travel down with a guy named Walt (?) and a bunch from California Native Plant Society LA. Does any one still run these excursions? We used
to get some very knowledgeable individuals on these trips.
Co-author of the Baja California Guidebook (1975) and others... La Siesta Press publisher... Met him in Baja in 1984... Neal Johns knew him, too...
The following is from: http://aaaim.com/echo/v2n4/
=====================================================
Walt Wheelock
1909-1997
Walt WheelockI’m saddened to report the death of Walter Whitman Wheelock on November 12, 1997.
I first met Mr. Wheelock when he was 90 years young. I had gone to his publishing house to purchase a number of books he put out under the name La
Siesta Press. At the time I was involved with prospecting, scouring the mountains and desert for mines and leads to new discoveries. My Land-Sea
Discovery Group was only a few months old and two of our biggest sellers were Mines of the East Fork and Mines of the San Gabriels which he published.
Rather than having the books shipped I asked to pick them up in person and it was a rewarding experience for me. Walt and I chatted about about
Publishing and then about the books he published.
When we got to subjects on the desert and Baja, Walt jumped up on the counter top leaned back and while he spoke of his love, his eyes sparkled. I was
thrilled when he gave me a copy of his first book, Rope, Knots, and Slings a work you could tell he was still proud of 30 years later.
He will be missed by many and I for one wish I know him better.
mulegemichael - 12-23-2013 at 04:41 PM
yeah, fall rains are only good for so long; the plants respond almost immediately and fade over time thereafter....everything is green down here right
now as a result of this autumns rains but until we get some sustaining rains going into the new year do not count on any huge blossoms until some
really significant rains show up...sorry.
A legend
huesos - 12-23-2013 at 05:32 PM
Walt Wheelock was a larger than life authority on Baja off road travel back when I was starting. I still have a copy of one of the first books with
Dick Cepek. I was able to get to know Dick later on but I never met Walt.bkbend - 12-24-2013 at 10:14 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajabuddha
oops, forgot tomention, once got into a great carpet bloom going into Bahia L. A. about 15 years ago.... purple verbena, black-eyed susans and
globemallow for miles. Entire valleys in flourescense. One more time, puh-lease!!!
[Edited on 12-23-2013 by bajabuddha]
That road into Bahia popped again in March 2009 after heavy January rains. The Agua Amarga basin was spectacular.
