HILLS SHOULD COME ALIVE WITH POST-FIRE WILDFLOWERS : BEST PLACES TO TAKE IN SEASON'S EARLY BLOSSOMS.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

Early winter downpours coupled with last fall's brush fires in the Santa Monica Mountains have nourished an unexpected and spectacular start to wildflower season.

Native flowers like the shooting star that typically begin blooming in April already have begun opening up, said Jan Garges, a docent from Simi Valley who leads hikes for the Sierra Club and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

``I've never seen it so early - it's really spectacular,'' Garges said. ``If we don't get up there soon, they'll all be gone.''

Garges leads an annual April wildflower hike in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks. But the early arrival of blooms has prompted a schedule change, with the annual trek into the hills now planned for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 15.

Unusual weather conditions are credited for the early start to wildflower season. Heavy downpours in December, followed by a few weeks of mostly sultry weather, have turned the hills lush green and given an early nudge to some blossoms.

``Our springs are always predicated on the first rains and we've had some really heavy storms,'' said Jo Kitz, vice president of the Los Angeles Santa Monica Mountains Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. ``But rains alone don't tell you everything. You can never tell what's going to happen - that's part of the beauty of it.''

The last round of fires in the Santa Monica Mountains may also contribute to a particularly vivid display. Brilliant blooms of post-fire wildflowers are expected in those areas cleared by the October fires, said Kitz, but only if brush that has spread over the blackened hills doesn't crowd out freshly uncovered seeds.

``When everything else is burned off, seeds that have been dormant for 50 years pop out,'' she said. ``It could be a spectacular year for those flowers.''

Kitz said she has highest hopes for Castro Crest, a set of three trails just south of Point Mugu that was particularly colorful after the last string of brush fires.

``The last time there were fires in there, we had just incredible displays the following spring,'' she said. ``I still remember one hillside that was a solid mass of lilies - I couldn't believe seeing so many flowers in one place.''

The best local displays are typically found in Wildwood Regional Park, in Thousand Oaks, and Sage Ranch Park, in the hills separating Simi Valley and Chatsworth.

Rangers at Sage Ranch said the heavy rains have not prompted a huge bloom so far, but they do expect to see an early arrival of everything from white buckwheat and pink prickly phlox to yellow bladder pods, red-orange Indian paintbrush and blue filaree.

Naturalists warn that there could be a downside to the early bloom. Vegetation that typically blooms in April and May could dry up if the weather stays warm.

Docents and rangers recommend the following areas for wildflower walks:

Wildwood Regional Park, west end of Avenida de los Arboles, Thousand Oaks: Look for shooting star, cow parsnip, chocolate lily, slender coreopsis, gold field, prickly phlox, flowering gooseberry, white stem filaree, bladder pod, Indian paintbrush.

Sage Ranch, at the end of Woolsey Canyon and Black Canyon roads in the Simi Hills: White stem filaree, everlasting, soap lily, buckwheat, wild peony.

Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa loop trail, begins at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road in Newbury Park: Common fiddleneck, canyon sunflower, California peony, California everlasting, common eucrypta, purple nightshade, morning glory, wild sweet pea, crimson pitcher sage, skullcap, wild radish, wishbone bush.

Chumash and Hummingbird trails, at the north end of Flanagan and Kuehner drives in Simi Valley: Wild peony, purple nightshade, bushmallow, phacelia, chicory, holly leaf, cherry shrub.

Happy Camp Canyon Regional Park, loop trail at the east end of Broadway above Moorpark: Bladder pod, Indian paintbrush, lupine, California peony, California encelia.

Zuma Canyon and Ridge, at the end of Bonsall and Busch drives in Malibu: Paintbrush, wild cucumber, stinging lupine, chaparral currant, prickly phlox, green-bark ceanothus, chocolate lily.

Castro Crest, up Corral Canyon Road off Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu: Take trail leading down into Solstice Canyon for best view of mariposa lily, popcorn flower, scarlet bugler, lupine.

Other locations: La Jolla and Sycamore canyons in Point Mugu State Park, Cage Creek and Yearling trails in Malibu Creek State Park, Cold Creek Canyon and Cold Creek Valley preserves on Stunt Road in Topanga State Park.

The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, Inc., has a hotline that includes reports from over 40 stations in Southern California about where certain flowers are blooming. The hotline number is [phone]. It is scheduled to begin operation March 6, but could start earlier.

Source: Park services and hike leaders.

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