Anza-Borrego State Park - vibrant desert flowers

Flower & Garden Magazine, Feb-March, 1993 by Ellen Henke

In March the plant cover at Anza-Borrego is a garden-lover's fantasy -- the floor of the desert is a carpet of vibrant flowers.

THE DESERT'S ARID, FRAGile, stark, rugged, unpopulated and wild nature does not evoke a garden vision of flowers, loveliness, greenery and water. But all it takes is one trip to the desert after a few winter rains and you will forever think of it as a special place of beauty.

California's desert (25 million acres in size), comprised of the Great Basin, Mojave and Colorado deserts, blankets a quarter of the state. The Colorado Desert, an extension of the immense Sonoran Desert of Mexico, is the southernmost and lowest in elevation of these three and has the warmest year-round temperature. Rain averages 4 to 6 inches a year and in summer it comes in tremendous bursts that over thousands of years have eroded the hills, creating the spectacular canyons and cliffs.

The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, located in the Colorado Desert south of Palm Springs and east of San Diego, is a perfect first desert encounter. The park's Visitor Center, built right into the hillside with natural vegetation forming the roof, features a slide program and exhibits on desert nature and geology.

One of the most informative and interesting walks, Borrego Palms Canyon Nature Trail, lies a short distance from the Visitor Center. It is an uphill walk of about 1-1/2 miles along a desert stream, which during winter and spring gurgles its way down from an oasis. At the top of the trail, numerous large desert fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) provide welcome shade. Along the trail and the creek there is abundant life and beauty.

Red-flowered chuparosa with its hummingbird companions and fragrant catclaw flowers (watch out for the thorns!) entices you from one spot to another. If you are observant and lucky, you may spot a peninsula bighorn sheep (borrego, in Spanish) on a high canyon wall.

In March, after a good rainy season, the plant cover at Anza-Borrego is diverse and extensive, making it a plant-and garden-lover's fantasy. Daytime temperatures in the 80s provide comfortable conditions for exploring. The otherwise harsh rocky hills are covered with the soft green spring vegetation; streams are still running in the canyons and the desert floor is carpeted with vibrant flowers.

Snow-white primroses blanket the ground like a cover of newfallen snow, while the spiny ocotillo, with its red flowers and weeping shapes, provides a unique contrast. The magenta sand verbena is a perfect companion for the brilliant yellow brittlebush (its golden sap was once used for incense).

Most desert newcomers are struck with wonder as they come upon miles of flowers stretching away toward the mountains under dazzling blue skies. This explosion of floral color makes you think that some person must have planted the desert, but the scale is not within the human realm. The fact that all these beautiful flowers seem to thrive in loose, dry desert sand is another cause for amazement.

In addition to well known desert flowers - agave, sacred datura, sand verbena, sunflowers, heliotrope -- there are lesser-known beauties such as fairly duster, desert lily and brittle-bush. They seem to have stayed in the desert, ignoring the call to horticulture, water, fertilizer, mulch and the tender loving care bestowed on their suburban cousins.

Many odd and curious plants are adapted for survival in this harsh environment. Most are annuals, germinating only if moisture and temperature conditions are just right. The pale green spring leaves of brittlebush are replaced in summertime with new leaves covered with soft white hairs. These function to shade the plant and prevent it from becoming too hot to produce its own energy and grow.

The graceful ocotillo is leafless, gray and thorny when conditions are dry. Energized by rain, the stems sprout a green, leafy sheath that lasts until the soil dries again. The plant's red flowers attract migrating hummingbirds as well as other birds and insects. Beavertail, one of a dozen or so prickly pear cacti in the Southwest, are protected from drying out by a thick layer of wax. The survival mechanisms these plants have developed add to their fascination.

A day in the desert, even in March, should begin before sunrise to appreciate the quite cool that nurtures desert plants and deposits precious dew on thirsty leaves. The colors of the desert sky at sunrise cast a wonderful spell across mountains, rocks and vegetation vibrant with spring flowers. The cool, damp morning air that allows you to see your breath is quickly banished by the rising sun. There is no shade, except maybe in a steep ravine where shade can cling for an extra half-hour.

Fonts Point provides a wonderful sunset view from the south- and west-facing rim overlooking the desert badlands. Deep ravines etched into sandy hills create sharp images as the sun sinks over the San Ysidro Mountains. On moonlit nights, if you're bundled in warm clothing, you can watch the show into the wee hours. Plant lovers will be thrilled to discover fragrant, white desert lilies with long, undulating leaves flowering on the rim.