Death Valley Super Bloom

[Baltimore1937]

Death Valley flowers bloom with unusual rainfall:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/science/death-valley-is-experiencing-a-colorful-superbloom.html?_r=0

[rms2]

When I was a senior in high school, many many moons ago, a bunch of my buddies and I went camping in Death Valley in the winter. It was in the mid 80s F during the day, but the temperature dropped like a rock at night, since there were no clouds and no humidity to block the re-radiation of heat up and away, and the wind at night was blustery. We had a great trip and did some very stupid, unsafe things, like going into an old abandoned mine. It would take too long to tell the whole story, but it was a memorable experience.

[Baltimore1937]

Flowers in the California desert 2017:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-desert-wildflowers-bloom_us_58bb0fc6e4b0b9989417ffcb?r47pjlp4dzkja714 i&

[Baltimore1937]

Flowers in the California desert 2017:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-desert-wildflowers-bloom_us_58bb0fc6e4b0b9989417ffcb?r47pjlp4dzkja714 i&

update:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/03/08/this-park-in-the-desert-southwest-is-experiencing-a-wildflower-superbloom/?utm_term=.cc2ecb31de27

[Saetro]

update:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/03/08/this-park-in-the-desert-southwest-is-experiencing-a-wildflower-superbloom/?utm_term=.cc2ecb31de27

If the flowers only come out very rarely, what are the pollinators and where do they go between flowerings?
(We have a similar phenomenon in parts of Australia, so I guess I will have to check that for my own backyard, too.)

[Baltimore1937]

If the flowers only come out very rarely, what are the pollinators and where do they go between flowerings?
(We have a similar phenomenon in parts of Australia, so I guess I will have to check that for my own backyard, too.)

The thought occurred to me that hummingbirds would likely play a part in the desert bloom phenomenon. Winter rains, if and when they occur, bring the late winter/early spring blooming when hummingbirds are returning from their winter "vacations". A similar thing happens when Rufous Hummingbirds move southward in the late summer along the trail of high mountain flowers in western USA.

[Baltimore1937]

Latest view of desert SW super bloom 2017:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/9-magical-photos-of-californias-wildflower-super-bloom_us_58cab793e4b0537abd956e96?

[Baltimore1937]

Cactus/Cacti too benefited from the recent wet spell:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/science/cactus-superbloom-spring.html?_r=0

[jobodwannaa]

Interesting.