UNTAMED BEAUTY DECEMBER SHOWERS, OTHER HEAVY RAINS BRING BLANKETS OF COLORFUL WILDFLOWERS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

WILDFLOWERS are back, bursting into a riot of color on hillsides, desert floors and even local freeway off-ramps.

``Flowers are the best they've been in years with a bigger variety than usual due to heavy rains in December,'' says horticulturist Annelisa Stephan, who writes weekly reports for the Wildflower Hotline sponsored by the Theodore Payne Native Flower Foundation in Sun Valley.

``The showers last weekend will help strengthen and nourish seedlings to make a better show,'' says Tom Hayduk, a Canoga Park horticulturist at Soka University, who has already seen an abundance of California poppies and lupine that looks like a small torch of purple flowers, as well as those charming little monkeyflowers, which he describes as having a deep throat in buff-orange and a smiling face that's sort of like the face of a mime.

For those who want to take a road trip to spot nature's eye candy, the epicenter of wildflower country is Eastern Kern County. You'll see blankets of yellow and orange, provided by poppies, goldfields and wild mustard with splashes of purple lupine and white cream cups, says Stephan, who adds that the crimson-red owl's clover is also blooming this year.

Look, but don't touch.

``It's illegal to pick wildflowers on public or private land without permission, and the reason is regeneration of flowers. If everybody picked them, there wouldn't be any wildflowers the next year,'' explains Margaret Robison, manager of the Theodore Payne Native Flower Foundation. Stephan adds that wildflowers are so delicate that they don't make good cutting flowers, so just take pictures if you need to take it home with you.

To find the best flowers, Highway 14 is the main drag. And one of the best stops is the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve (located 15 miles west of Highway 14 near Lancaster). It is quickly turning orange with poppies, but Stephan's reporters for the Wildflower Hotline say it hasn't reached its peak bloom, which should be late this month rather than the usual mid-April. The 1,700-acre park is open daily with seven miles of trails, including some that are handicapped accessible. Docent tours are offered 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $4 a vehicle; for more information, call [phone].

Stephan also recommends the Desert Tortoise Reserve near California City, where a naturalist will educate visitors on the flowers as well as turtles.

Also along Highway 14 is Red Rock Canyon State Park where you'll find wildflower classics as well as woolly daisies, blazing stars and primroses. Continue along the Kernville turnoff and you'll see hillsides ablaze with gilia and popcorn flower, along with owl's clover, blue dicks, jewelflower and flaming red desert paintbrush, according to the weekly Wildflower Hotline, which can be heard by calling [phone].

In the same neighborhood, along Sierra Way from Kernville toward Weldon, look for caterpillar phacelia covering the hillsides along with California poppies, coreopsis and lupine. Another good spot is Kelso Valley, southwest of Lake Isabella (in the Kernville area) where you can see delicate Kern monkeyflowers and tiny desert stars as well as Fremont's phacelia.

If you're going for a lush look, detour over to Highway 223, east of Arvin near the Tejon Ranch property, where you'll find hundreds of acres of poppies, lupine and fiddlenecks mingling with owl's clover, brodiaea and red maid flowers.

Closer to home are the Santa Monica Mountains, where you can find lupine and monkeyflowers and mariposa lilies at the Charmlee Wilderness Park in Malibu and also at the Circle X Ranch. Other spots include the Zuma Loop Trail, La Jolla Canyon, Mishe Mokwa and Canyon View in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

The show hasn't really started in the San Gabriels because of the higher elevation, says Stephan, but flowers should be blooming by April. An easy walking and viewing place is Eaton Canyon Natural Area in Pasadena where there is a nature center, as well as a demonstration garden and hiking trails.

Wildflower fans who don't want to waste time on a long drive, aren't excited about hiking and want to be assured of a carpet of color should head for local botanical gardens. Not only will you see a wide variety, but the window of opportunity is bigger, often extending into May, due to careful planning and planting and professional nurturing, Hayduk explains.

Among the local gardens offering tours:

-- Soka University Botanical Research Center in Calabasas will have a free guided tour of wildflower gardens at 10 a.m. April 10 and a native plant sale (including California poppy seedlings) at 9:30 a.m. March 29. Call [phone].

-- Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants in Sun Valley is open 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday for free, self-guided tours. Poppy Day open house and seed and plant sale is 8:30 a.m. April 12. Call [phone].

-- Santa Barbara Botanic Garden offers a view of California poppies, lupine, monkeyflowers, canyon sunflowers, penstemon, coral bells, meadowfoam and several types of sage on guided tours given at 2 p.m. daily for a $6 fee. Call [phone].

-- Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden located at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Claremont is just starting its color story with California poppies and lupine, but other flowers are expected to bloom later in the month. Self-guided tours are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with a requested donation of $5 per family. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

9 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) San Diego Sunflower

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Two hikers make their way through a field of lupine flowers in East Simi Valley.

(3 -- color) SALVIA 

(4 -- color) MONKEYFLOWER

(5 -- color) WOOLLY BLUE CURL

(6 -- color) HYACINTH 

(7 -- color) POPPY

(8 -- color) COREOPSIS

(9 -- color) BLUE-EYED GRASS

Dean Musgrove/Staff Photographer

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer