San Mateo County residents eager for a glimpse of spring need to look no further than the area’s natural spaces, where a variety of colorful wildflowers — from purple lupines to the classic California poppy — are preparing to bloom.
Flower blooms typically begin around March and go until the summer months, but every year is different, requiring visitors to get outside and see for themselves, Lewis Reed, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District rangeland ecologist, said.
“It’s really hard to predict. You have to sit back and enjoy how the season unfolds. It’s different every year — that’s what makes it exciting, there’s a little bit of uncertainty here. It’s a surprise,” he said.
A pink variety of trillium, which can be spotted in the woodlands.
Karl Gohl/Courtesy of Midpeninsula Open Space District
California is home to thousands of native wildflower species, and the county’s coastal grasslands are particularly diverse. Visitors to Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserves, which range in location across the Santa Cruz Mountains and along the coast, can see different flowers depending on location.
Woodland preserves, like the Purisima Creek Redwoods, are good for early-season sightings of dainty white blossoms of milkmaids or trilliums, Reed said.
“Something starting to ramp up now in the woodlands, some of the early blooms — milkmaids, a member of the mustard family — trilliums and some of our flowering shrubs too, [are] starting to brighten up the woodlands,” he said.
To see the beautiful lupine, a bloom that comes in many colors and species but is well known for the traditional purple hue of the sky lupine, one should visit coastal grasslands like Skyline Ridge or Russian Ridge further into spring, Reed said.
Douglas Iris can be seen on the coastside, Reed said.
Frances Freyberg/Courtesy of Midpeninsula Open Space District
“If you are an ambitious wildflower seeker, you might hike around and find some of our perennial pockets of these on the preserves. Silver bush lupine is one of the perennials,” he said, referencing a species of lupine that lives year-round.
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The state flower, the vivid California poppy, can likely be found “in every single one of the district’s preserves,” Reed said, and might be spotted en masse in the later spring along with fiddlenecks, a yellow wildflower.
The Douglass iris, “a beautiful, showy wildflower,” along with suncups, a smaller yellow blossom, can also be spotted along the coastside in the earlier months.
Cloverdale Ranch, the Midpeninsula’s newest Open Space Preserve, offers a variety of coastal flowers, Ryan McCauley, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District public affairs specialist, said.
“We’re lucky and fortunate to live in such a biodiversity hot spot. Really anywhere you go, hot spot of flowers,” he said.
He also recommended wildflower lovers to use the iNaturalist app or website, a platform to see what types of unique flora and fauna others have spotted in specific areas.
For the best experience, McCauly suggested guests to the open space areas avoid busy weekend times and reminded them to practice respect for the natural surroundings.
A bee pollinating a suncup, which visitors can find along the coast or near coastal grasslands.
Lewis Reed/Courtesy of Midpeninsula Open Space District
“You’re sort of entering someone else’s home, these wildflower species provide food for native pollinators,” he said. “If we’re not careful trying to get the best picture, going off trails … it’s not only a visual impact but an ecosystem disruption.”
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