Wildflowers

[joebartels]

The lower desert areas of the state seem to be setting up for a nice wildflower season

If these weekly to bi-monthly rains keep up we might see something mid January if not sooner

Wildflower Observations
28 Day Wildflower Report Map

[Jim]

My expectation is that it is too soon for poppies and others at Organ Pipe. Anyone have a feel for when they get going?

[outdoor_lover]

We are about to have a full week of High 70's to low 80's...If that type of Weather keeps up, both the Poppies and the Snakes will start to show up in about 2 weeks....

[Jim]

high 70s and low 80s? Aaaawwwww yeah!

[Jim]

Any guess about Organ Pipe NM?

I was going to go to the Algodones Dunes area this weekend early next week until I realized it is a 3 day holiday weekend and they will undoubtedly be PACKED! So, I think maybe postpone that until April and instead do a Organ Pipe Ajo Peak and flower observation trip. My thoughts, are that by the weekend, and into early next week, the flowers will probably be on display.

[azbackpackr]

April is probably too late for flowers.

[hippiepunkpirate]

April is probably too late for flowers.

Not for saguaro blooms

[Jim]

Ah, the spring flower show seems to be in full display. Brittebrush is just starting, but poppies, lupines and other things are going strong. Citrus, too. I do not know, having never lived this low before, if this is early or about right. Can't be late, though, as Tucson and the SW has recorded it's warmest winters, and Tucson has had one of it's wettest winters on record. This was the first time the city has had 6 inches of rain in the water year before the monsoon. When does the peak of flowers happen? My thoughts, are it is peaking as I type.

When will it end? I ask, because my allergies (unless I am sick) are the worst they have been since the massive fall flower display in Alamogordo in September and October of 2013.

[joebartels]

Not much around the 1k-2k valley trails this year. The poppy displays around valley resorts are beginning to taper off. Saw a good variety in the supes this past weekend. Stunted growth lupine tell the story of an average year. Looks like others have found nice areas!

[mazatzal]

Lupines do seem stunted, much taller in '05?

[azbackpackr]

The Mojave Desert where I live didn't have a spectacular wildflower season this year.

[Jim]

It isn't really that great around Tucson, either, but there are a lot of flowers along certain roads that had construction this past year. Further north looks like there is a good show. When will what ever is bothering my allergies end, though? I'm thinking it may be more of the planted yard and street trees that are flowering, and not the wildflowers, but have no way of knowing.

[Nighthiker]

Will be out the next couple of days in and around the Superstitions, hope to find some good displays.

[rcorfman]

If we're gonna have a good wildflower season, I think it is still a couple weeks away. The best I've seen was March 21, 2008

[outdoor_lover]

It seems that Areas South of the Valley, (Tucson, Ajo, Winkleman, Picacho) have great Displays going, and the Flowers look much Healthier...East of the Valley (Safford) Area seems to be in a the Show too...Everything around the Valley appears to be wimpy and stressed except for the Chuparosa...Even the Globe Mallow is pretty small.... I hope things turn around up here.

[tibber]

I am just hoping everything is gonna spring up late around the Valley. Just doesn't appear that way though.

[hippiepunkpirate]

I thought there was/is an unwarranted amount of optimism about the wildflower bloom this year, especially after the storms in January and February. Unfortunately, rains in those months don't have much bearing on what the flowers are doing just a month later. When it really counts, November, most areas got big fat ZEROS for precip. The 1.5-2 inches in December undoubtedly is what saved it from being a terrible wildflower season.

[Jim]

I'm surprised that the cool weather seems to have maintained some areas of flowers. I know that they were either seeded by the construction, or just what was in the soil and grew really well with the disturbance, but the cooler temps and freak early May rain have preserved an area of poppies and other yellow flowers on the sides of Orange Grove RD, just west of Oracle by about 1/2 a mile. Lots of still good looking flowers there yesterday, for a few days from June and it now pushing 100.

[chumley]

List of Recent Wildflower Observations
28 Day Wildflower Report Map

I can see the rush on North Mountain starting any minute now!
For all you seasonal desert weed trackers with memories that go back decades ... just how bad is 2021 stacking up?

[tibber]

@chumley I sure can't recall a worse year and time is running out.

[DixieFlyer]

@tibber
my recollection is that 2018 was a bad spring for wildflowers, although it may not have been as bad as this year...that year, some wildflowers were blooming in the fall though