RAIN SPROUTS DELUGE LEFT GOLDEN LEGACY; POPPY RESERVE WILL OPEN EARLY.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - Golden poppy golden poppy of California. [Flower Symbolism: Golenpaul, 627] See : Flower, State blossoms are blooming all over the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a California wildlife reserve located in the rural westside of the Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County. Constitutionally, it is a state park. Its namesake is the state flower, the California Poppy. , which will open its visitors center today - the earliest opening it its history. Heavy fall and winter rains have nourished a crop of poppy plants that cover the 1,745-acre reserve's rolling hills Rolling hills are like a mountain chain, only a "hill chain" of hills that roll on and on continually. You will often find them in between plains and mountains, near major rivers, or randomly anywhere. The only places without rolling hills are deserts and flood plains. , though blossoms are just starting to appear and will get much thicker if spring weather cooperates. ``There's a lot of poppies coming in now,'' Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. state parks superintendent Craig Mattson said. ``Over the last couple days, with the sun over there, it's really turning orange, particularly on the south-facing slopes.'' Besides the poppies - which right now have the thickest blooms on south-facing slopes outside the reserve's boundaries - other wildflowers are blooming at the reserve and elsewhere around the valley: pygmy lupines, cream cups, redstem filaree and fiddlenecks. This spring's display could be ``dynamite'' if regular, light rain falls in coming months to keep the poppy plants alive, Mattson said. Wildflowers are sprouting in numbers in numbered parts; as, a book published in numbers. See also: Number probably not seen in 50 years all around Southern California's deserts and mountains, and even along city streets and in fields where the heavy rain let them compete against hardier immigrant species such as mustard. The wildflower wildflower Any flowering plant that grows without intentional human aid. Wildflowers are the source of all cultivated garden varieties of flowers. A wildflower growing where it is unwanted is considered a weed. show is best right now at lower elevations, such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, c.639 sq mi (1,655 sq km), S Calif., occupying most of E San Diego co. and neighboring portions of Riverside and Imperial cos.; est. 1933. in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. County, the Coachella Valley Coachella Valley (kō'əchĕl`ə), arid region, SE Calif., N of the Salton Sea. Water is brought into the region by artesian wells and by the Coachella Canal (123 mi/198 km long), a branch of the All-American Canal built between 1938 and in Riverside County and southern Death Valley, which got record amounts of rain, Southern California wildflower expert Sid Dutcher said. Wildflowers in the Antelope Valley, around Barstow and in other colder, higher spots will improve over coming weeks, he said. ``It's one of those years when it doesn't matter where you go, you're going to see flowers,'' said Dutcher, an amateur botanist who coordinates wildflower sightings for the Sun Valley-based Theodore Payne Foundation's wildflower hotline. The poppy reserve's visitor center will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. The reserve is 15 miles west of Lancaster, off Avenue I. Visitors will be able to walk on 7 1/2 miles of trails through the reserve, and docent-led tours are available on weekends. Volunteers staff the center to answer questions and hand out trail maps showing the best flower locations. Admission is $5 per vehicle, $1 more than last year. For a weekly update on the wildflower bloom at the reserve, call its hotline at (661) 724-1180. Lancaster will host its 14th annual California Poppy California poppy: see poppy. California poppy Annual garden plant (Eschscholzia californica) in the poppy family, native to the western coast of North America and naturalized in parts of southern Europe, Asia, and Australia. Festival on April 16-17 at Lancaster City Park. Headlining the festival entertainment will be two Grammy winners: country-pop vocalist Juice Newton at 3:30 p.m. April 16 and jazz-pop guitarist Norman Brown at 3:30 p.m. April 17. The festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 16-17 at the park, 43055 10th St. W. Festival admission will be $7 for adults, $3 for seniors age 62 and older and children ages 6 to 12. Children age 5 and younger are admitted free. Festival parking will be free. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Cameron Long, 3, of Palmdale checks out some early blooms Friday at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, which officially will open its visitors center today. (2) A rain-bejeweled golden poppy adorns the side of Elizabeth Lake Road. (3) Frank and Debbie Connelley of Lakewood stroll among the poppies Friday at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, located 15 miles west of Lancaster. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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