Tour Will View Wildflowers in Antelope Valley

A nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving native California wildflowers and plants has organized a one-day bus tour to the Antelope Valley on Saturday to view the the springtime explosion of color.

After a disappointing display last year, wildflowers are in greater abundance this spring, said Holliday Wagner, executive director of the Sun Valley-based

The wildflower season is now at its peak and hillsides are blanketed with the vibrant orange blossoms of the California poppy, the state’s official flower, and other colorful blossoms such as lilies and lupine.

The last abundant wildflower season was in 1991, and while not as spectacular, this year’s display is well above average, experts say. In addition to the Antelope Valley, wildflowers also can be viewed near the Circle X Ranch, Leo Carrillo area and Nicholas Flats trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Saturday’s tour will leave promptly at 9 a.m. from the parking lot of the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area on the west side of Balboa Boulevard. Seats are $30 for foundation members and $40 for non-members. For information, call (818) 768-1802.

For those who want to view the flowers on their own, the Theodore Payne Foundation operates a free telephone hot line listing which flowers are currently in bloom in the Antelope Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains. The number is (818) 768-3533.

The foundation was founded in 1960 by Theodore Payne, a Los Angeles-based nurseryman and landscaper, who died at age 94 in 1963. He became interested in California plants and wildflowers during an exhibit in England, where he lived until coming to America.

The foundation was formerly a nursery in the Los Feliz area, until 1966, when it was moved to a donated, 21-acre site in Sun Valley’s La Tuna Canyon. Various varieties of plants and wildflowers are grown on the property, which is also home to more than 100 species of birds.