Super Bloom!

 

 Diamond Valley Lake wildflower trail

Southern California certainly isn't known for rain, especially during what seems to be more and more frequent drought years. But, like the song says, when it does rain, it pores. Which is why SoCal has such an abundant crop of wildflowers this year. The small town of Lake Elsinore, for example, is so festooned in golden poppies that streets are closed during the weekend to help manage the hordes of visiting tourists.

Although our own gardens are glorious this year, I decided we needed to see blooms in the wild and so trekked down to Hemet yesterday to view spring flowers at Diamond Valley Lake. Two hours away but, oh, so very worth the trip. There are several trails that meander along the edge of the lake. However, we hardier walkers followed the mile-long route that took us up 200 feet to a peak that overlooks the entire valley and lake. Thank goodness for zumba 2-3 times a week, because we barely broke into a sweat heading up the hill.

Some of the blooms were familiar because they appear periodically in our own yards, but it was much more thrilling to see them flourishing in their natural habitat . Besides poppies, we saw arroyo lupine, California goldfields, brittlebrush, owl's clover, caterpillar phacelia, Canterbury bells, chia, blue dicks, rancher's fiddleneck, forget-me-not, and tidy tips. Plus the views were breathtaking. Highly recommended!

The orange flag marks the trailhead up the hill

 

Fabulous California goldfields

 

Poppies and Canterbury bells

 

Arroyo lupine

 California goldfield and baby blue-eyes

 

Blue dick?

 

Tidy tips

 

Baby blue-eyes

 

Canterbury bells

 

Lovin' the view

 

The lake beyond

 

Our talented photographer, Tim