Kidnocker: Where are the wildflowers?

Some years the Santa Cruz Valley is blessed with blankets of spring wildflowers. The latest spectacular show was in 1998.

Our current year has been a bit of a disappointment. There are some wildflowers out there, but the hunt calls for close inspection and appreciation of those few that have bloomed.

There were good rains last summer; however, summer monsoons are not responsible for showy wildflower displays.

Annuals, such as poppies, lupines, fleabane, desert bluebells, and owl’s clover must germinate in the autumn, usually between late September and early December.

During this window following the summer heat, a rainfall of at least 1 inch will trigger germination. Neither summer rain or cooler winter rain can bring about germination of wildflower seed.

A season of regular rains of at least 1 inch per month through March should follow. These winter rains should add up to a minimum of 5 inches and be well-spaced.

To quote wildflower expert Mark Dimmitt, Ph.D., “In short, a really good wildflower bloom requires both an unusually early and an unusually wet winter rainy season. A really good bloom occurs about once in 10 years in the Sonoran Desert.”

Besides rain, other factors can prevent a really special wildflower display. Large numbers of rodents, rabbits, quail, or certain insects can consume seeds.

A week or two of warm, windy weather may trigger premature bloom. A wet preceding summer results in thick vegetation growth that prevents germination of annuals seed. Also an unusually cold winter retards growth of the seedlings.

Perennial wildflowers such as penstemon, larkspur, fairy duster, babybonnets and brittlebush are influenced less by the timing of rainfall. Desert plants such as ocotillo, cacti, creosote, and palo verde flower every year regardless of rainfall.

On a recent walk through Kings Canyon in the Tucson Mountains, these members of the sunflower family were blooming: silverleaf bahia, desert chicory, pincushion, and spreading fleabane. Also found were native fairy duster, Arizona lupine, wild hyacinth, caliche globemallow, rock hibiscus, and many magenta-colored trailing four o-clock.

Lining the wash were large stands of blooming babybonnets, a native shrub that grows 6 to 20 feet tall. Its flowers are pea-like, bright yellow and white with reddish sepals.

There were also large numbers of silverbells, also called Arizona jewelflower or twist flower. These smooth, gray-green plants grow no more than 2 feet tall and have long open clusters of small silver-white, bell-shaped flowers. It was necessary to look closely.

In its cultivated wildflower beds at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, there are strong examples of desert marigold, sacred datura, desert zinnia, Baja fairyduster, desert bluebells, various mallows, desert tobacco, verbena, penstemon and purple owl’s clover.

As at the Desert Museum, your landscape can have a wildflower collection next spring if you spread seed in autumn and duplicate the “rain recipe” needed for germination. In late summer, this column will discuss how to create your own wildflower carpet at home.

So this year, the Santa Cruz Valley has few unimaginably colorful spring wildflower fields that go on forever. However, there are some that are blooming for our pleasure.

Instead of being wowed by the carpets of spectacular bloom while driving down the Interstate… it may be necessary to tour the back roads, take a walk through the washes, get close and look carefully.

Springtime is magic everywhere, including the desert!

Mary Kidnocker is a Master Gardener who writes frequently on the subject from a local perspective. Her columns are featured each Sunday.