Will drought hinder wildflower super bloom in SoCal this year?
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It's that time of year where we could see a super bloom of wildflowers. But with SoCal's drought conditions, will we miss out on all the blossoms?
March is typically the time we start to see flowers bloom, with many Southlanders flocking to areas like Lancaster to catch a glimpse of the wildflowers native to California.
But our views around SoCal this spring are expected to be much different due to the drought and extremely dry start to winter.
This comes after two of the wettest winters on record that brought us an incredible super bloom back in 2023, and another beautiful show last year.
Both winters provided the perfect ingredients for wide swaths of poppies to cover our deserts and hills.
While we have more rain in the forecast, it's a little too late for some of these species.
Annual wildflowers typically need a colder and wetter December and January, followed by a very mild February and March.
"The hard thing about what we're experiencing especially with respect to climate change is that we'll have these spectacular years, but then that will be bounded by really severe drought," said Naomi Fraga, director of conservation programs at California Botanic Garden.
"So rather than having an average year, we're kind of going between extremes - lots of rain, then severe drought. So we see lots of flowers, then no flowers," Fraga added.
And not only did we have historic winds this January, we also had record breaking heat in February -- both of which can dry out seedlings and cause an incomplete life cycle.
So while you may see a few poppies, you won't see a lot of them.
Experts say we can expect to see shrubs with nice blooms, like lilacs and sunflowers. But if you're looking for more annual wildflowers, you'll have better opportunities in areas like Central and Northern California.
