Desert Bloom : Park’s Brilliant Poppies Herald the Arrival of Spring

Poking up from the parched desert, fighting for sunshine amid thick weeds, the season’s first bright orange California poppies burst into view Friday at a 1,700-acre park dedicated to the state flower.

Beating the arrival of spring by three days, the 18-year-old Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve reopened to flower lovers, hikers and camera buffs. Wildflower experts expect a healthy but not spectacular showing of blooms this year, blaming it on a shortage of winter rain and a surplus of wild grass.

Still, such predictions didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Mary Snyder, coordinator of volunteer docents at the park, situated about 15 miles west of downtown Lancaster. Snyder said Friday’s array of flora was a vast improvement over the four lonely blooms she spotted at the park just two weeks earlier.

“Maybe I’m optimistic,” Snyder said. “But I think it’s going to be a lot better than we had been planning.”

The park, which will be open through May 15, attracts visitors from around the world, particularly when the perfect combination of plentiful rain and mild spring temperatures turn the grounds into a dazzling blanket of orange. The last time that occurred was 1991.

Repeated downpours last winter provoked the furious growth of weeds, which deprive the poppies of critical moisture and sunlight.

“The grasses grew so high because of the rain last year, so the poppies and wildflowers are going to be competing with it,” said Yolande Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Theodore Payne Foundation, a wildflower education group. “Whichever is the tallest is what you’ll see.”

Although visitors to the park will see plenty of poppies this year, “it’s not going to be a solid field of orange like it was a few years ago,” said Vic Maris, superintendent of the Mojave Desert State Parks.

The poppy season generally runs about two months. In addition to the poppy reserve, the flowers can be seen throughout the Antelope Valley on private property and in other parks this time of year.

To give the poppies a hand, the state plans to burn part of the fields in June under controlled conditions. When such fires occur naturally, flowers are usually the first vegetation to sprout anew.

Maris said the burn will kick off a long-term search for methods to promote the growth of wildflowers. “We’ll learn a great deal over the next 10 years about what we need to do to manipulate the environment in a natural way to enhance our flowering fields,” he said.

During poppy season, the park, at 15101 Lancaster Road, will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The state charges $5 per car for admission.

The park can be reached by taking the Antelope Valley Freeway north to Avenue I in Lancaster. Drive west on Avenue I, which becomes Lancaster Road.

Picking flowers at the park or along the roadside is illegal. Park visitors are urged to remain on the hiking trails to avoid damaging the plants and to steer clear of rattlesnakes.

On April 16 and 17, the city of Lancaster will offer free shuttle rides from Lancaster City Park to the poppy reserve during the annual California Poppy Festival, sponsored by the city.