One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
Orange County bursts with wildflowers
A sea of bush sunflowers above Upper Newport Bay.
(
Jill Replogle
)
A fiddleneck in Upper Newport Bay.
(
Jill Replogle
)
Parry's phacelia in Upper Newport Bay.
(
Jill Replogle/KPCC
)
Listen
1:11
Orange County bursts with wildflowers
The hillsides around the Muth Interpretive Center in the Newport Bay Conservancy are awash in yellow: Bush sunflowers, fiddle necks and black mustard. Silvia Smith and her son Greg were birdwatching and wildflower hunting on a recent, sunny afternoon.
“The intensity of the colors is just absolutely amazing,” Silvia said.
Greg added the green hills were a stark change from the gray, dry hillsides of recent years.
“It’s so lush and green and soft," he said. "I mean, the sage, you bump up against it and the fragrances just come right off."
Park rangers say this is shaping up to be the best year for wildflowers in Orange County in nearly a decade. The prolonged drought followed by abundant rain — in some areas on top of former burned areas — are a perfect formula for a fabulous display of wildflowers.
David Raetz, deputy director of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, said people can see the most blooms where brush fires tore through, changing the chemical composition of the soil.
“Those actually cause a lot of the flowers to bloom, they need those chemicals for their seeds to germinate,” he said.
Sponsored message
Fields of deep orange California poppies, purple Canterbury bells and lupine fill the Orange County backcountry. Raetz said less common flowers, like chocolate lilies, are also starting to pop up.
“The diversity is extensive and a lot of them are small, but the longer you’re out there, the more you start to notice them," he said.
The Irvine Ranch Conservancy and Orange County Parks Department have various hikes and other wildfire activities planned for the coming weeks. See letsgooutside.org and ocparks.com.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
