Death Valley Flowers

Finding Spring Blooms
Exploring Nevada By Cassandra Radwich

Spring has arrived, and with it comes the blooming of the desert flowers. If you are new to the desert environment, you will be amazed at the numbers of flowers that pop up in the springtime in places where only recently brown, dry-looking desert weeds resided. There is a preponderance of yellow flowers, but there are also orange, red, hot pink, white, and lavender blooms. I have even seen some royal purple blossoms that were spectacular! The most dramatic colors are found on the cacti! It seems unusual for such prickly and odd-looking plants to have such gorgeous flowers.

Each year, unpredictable winter weather determines the abundance or scarcity of spring wildflowers. We have not had a lot of rain this year, but there will be flowers, nonetheless.

During the month of May there are many places you may want to take a drive to view the flora of the season. Death Valley has quite a few flowers that bloom, as does Ash Meadows. There are a number of websites that post the best times to visit and the best routes to see the most flowers. For Death Valley you might visit the following very chatty website: http://www.maturango.org/DeathV.html. The site is posted by the Maturango Museum and gives a host of information about Death Valley in a homespun format that is fun to read. The official Death Valley website also has information that might help determine the best time to view the vegetation: http://www.nps.gov/deva/.

For more information about Ash Meadows, visit the following site: http://www.fws.gov/desertcomplex/ashmeadows/calendar.htm. They have many posted hiking areas where both the flora and fauna of the area may be observed. Ash Meadows provides the best viewing areas for close-ups if you are into taking pictures.

Another day trip that is worthwhile in the springtime is the road that encircles Lake Mead. The royal purple flowers that so impressed me when I first arrived in Nevada were spotted as I made the circumnavigation of Lake Mead one beautiful spring day. For more information on Lake Mead visit: http://www.nps.gov/lame/naturescience/plants.htm. There are pictures posted of the wildflowers that bloom in the area that will help you identify the ones you see.

Don’t forget the Spring Mountains next door to us! There are several roads that are passable with a high-clearance vehicle that afford many chances to see the wildflowers up close. Wheeler Pass Road, Lovell Canyon Road and Trout Canyon Road all offer views of the valley as well as prospects of seeing the flowers in bloom.

Another really helpful website to use when planning an outing to see the spectacular desert flowers is: http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/nv.html. This site has specific locations listed for Nevada along with some beautiful pictures taken last year (and some from this year, already, too). Be sure to browse through this particular website thoroughly, because the information they have is thorough and well written.

If you do not have access to the internet, stop into Gotta Getta Map at 361 S Frontage Rd - we can print information from the web for you, and we have some books on the wildflowers and cacti of the Desert Southwest.