SPRING FERVOR WILDFLOWER POPULATION SEES BLOOM.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer Flowers are in bloom all over the region today, spring's first day: Orange California poppies bloom along Lancaster roadsides, yellow coreopsis coreopsis (kōrēŏp`sĭs), or tickseed, names for species of Coreopsis, a chiefly North American genus of the family Asteraceae (aster family). and blue lupine lupine or lupin (l  `pĭn), any species of the genus Lupinus, annual or perennial herbs or shrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). sprout on the Channel Islands and purple sand verbena verbena, common name for some members of the Verbenaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and trees (often climbing forms) of warmer regions of the world. Well-known wild and cultivated members of the family include species of the shrubby Lantana and of and white dune primroses flourish in the Anza-Borrego Desert. Just a month ago, Southern California's botanists and 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. enthusiasts feared that the wildflower season was shaping up poorly. Then mid-February storms arrived, and their hopes were renewed. ``In some areas, it's going to be outstanding. In some areas, it's going to be average,'' said Sid Dutcher, an amateur botanist who coordinates wildflower sightings for the Theodore Payne Theodore Payne was born in Northamptonshire, England in 1872 and served an apprenticeship in horticulture. He moved to Los Angeles in 1893 and fell in love with the California flora, dedicating his life to its preservation. Foundation's wildflower hotline. ``Overall, it's going to be a pretty good season.'' This spring won't boast the spectacular carpets of wildflowers that occur in some El Nino years and other times when blooms are brought out by a subtle combination of rainfall, temperature and sunshine. But the show still should be good in places - and might turn out even better if the weather cooperates. Wildflower photographer Milt Stark, whose ``A Flower-Watcher's Guide'' is the bible for serious visitors to 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. west of Lancaster, says he can't tell yet how this year's poppy show will turn out. ``There's a lot of poppy plants around and whether they produce blooms and survive depends on this warm weather. If this warm weather continues they probably won't even mature,'' said Stark, 82, a retired county deputy probation officer probation officer n. 1. An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents. 2. An official charged with supervising convicts at large on suspended sentence or probation. who has lived in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley for 80 years. ``I can't predict.'' The 1,745-acre Antelope Valley poppy reserve, created more than 30 years ago on what was concluded to be California's most consistent poppy land, will open its visitor center today and Sunday for the spring wildflower season. On Friday, the reserve itself had few poppies, though the hills were green with grass and redstem filaree, and patches of poppies were blooming in a field facing the reserve's main entrance. Others bloomed along the roads leading there. Globe gilia, lupine, Bigelow coreopsis and other wildflowers are also growing beside desert roads west of Lancaster and in the hills south of the reserve. ``I missed it at its best,'' said Maryann Neumann, 60, of Scottsdale, Ariz., who stopped by the Antelope Valley reserve on a trip back from the San Francisco Bay Area “Bay Area” redirects here. For other uses, see Bay Area (disambiguation). The San Francisco Bay Area, colloquially known as the Bay Area or The Bay visiting her son. The poppies will get better, reserve volunteers say. ``In three weeks we are probably going to have good poppies,'' said poppy reserve volunteer Pat Treadwell, who on Friday was helping stock the visitors center bookstore for today's opening. Some 102,000 visitors came to the Antelope Valley reserve last spring, when the wildflowers were judged as probably the best in five years. Rainfall so far there this year has been 7.3 inches, down from 10.4 inches by this time last year. Rainfall was only 3 inches in 2002, when there were virtually no poppies. HOW TO FIND FLOWERS Here are locations, phone numbers and Web sites to help locate wildflowers this spring around Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, : --The Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve is located 15 miles west of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. off Avenue I. Its visitor center will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday, then daily starting next weekend. The center will be open probably through April, or until flowers disappear. Admission is $4 per vehicle. Ranger- or docent-led walks are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Recorded information is available at (661) 724-1180. --The Theodore Payne Foundation  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . has a wildflower report online at www.theodorepayne.org, and a telephone hotline at (818) 768-3533. --E-mailed tips from wildflower enthusiasts are on writer-photographer Carol Leigh's Web site at www.calphoto.com/wflower. --Kern County's wildflower hotline, sponsored by the Kern County Board of Trade, is at (800) 500-KERN. CAPTION(S): 7 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 3 -- color -- ran in Valley edition only) no caption (Flowers) David R. Crane/Staff Photographer Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (4 -- color -- ran in Valley edition only) The rabbits have spring in their step at Descanso Gardens Descanso Gardens is a 160-acre botanical garden and historical site located at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, California, USA. Situated in a natural “bowl” in the San Rafael Hills, this calming, urban retreat is just 14 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. in Glendale, keeping pace with the abundant blooms that are popping up around the Southland. John McCoy/Staff Photographer (5 -- 6 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Park maintenance employee Linda Schmid checks out poppies already in bloom at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. (7 -- color - ran AV edition only) Blue gilia and orange poppies are in flower on Lancaster Road near the reserve. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer Box: (ran in Valley edition only) HOW TO FIND FLOWERS (see text) |
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