Wildflower-watching resources

Here are some good flower-watching resources:

Wildflower Hotline, run by the Theodore Payne Foundation, is the most comprehensive source for Southern California weekly wildflower reports. It updates information through the end of May. You can listen to reports by phone at (818) 768-3533 (let it ring several times) or download them at https://www.theodorepayne.org/hotline.html.

Many local, state and national parks file online reports that update where wildflowers are blooming. Here are some that keep you in the loop:

Joshua Tree National Park, (760) 367-5500, https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/blooms.htm.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, (760) 767-4205, https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638.

Pick up a flower guide. Some parks sell pamphlets with color pictures of flowers to look for as well as full-on flower field guides. The California Academy of Sciences keeps an impressive online database of California wildflowers by name (common and Latin) and even by color: https://www.lat.ms/wMDrQA