California superblooms come highly-anticipated every year, but 2023 is shaping up to bring an especially bountiful spring season following the heavy rainfall we’ve experienced throughout the state. In fact, National Geographic wrote that 2023 could be the “year of the superbloom,” although it’s still a bit early to gauge exactly how abundant this year’s blooms will be.
What is a superbloom?
“Superbloom” is a non-technical term that’s come to refer to California’s rare, above-average wildflower blooms. It happens when seeds that have laid dormant in the soil begin to germinate and blossom all at once.
Nat Geo elaborates that superblooms require a few basic ingredients to come to fruition: they are “a good rain year,” (but not just a single deluge), “cool nighttime temperatures, and a well-stocked seed bank.” Historically those conditions have brought superblooms every decade or so, although climate change has made that schedule much less predictable.
After California’s higher rainfall averages throughout the fall and winter, conditions are looking favorable for some 2023 superblooms.
How can I see superblooms (responsibly) in the Bay Area?
If you live in the Bay Area, you likely won’t have to travel far to see some breathtaking superblooms this year. But no matter where you visit, it’s essential to be respectful of the natural environment. Sightseers often stray from marked paths and trample the blossoms in order to get the perfect Instagram picture, which can be quite destructive to the desert landscapes where fragile native blooms usually occur. Make sure to plan your trip carefully and, quite simply, do not step on the plants.
Keep an eye out for wildflower news out of Point Reyes, Half Moon Bay, Mount Burdell, Russian Ridge, Mount Tamalpais, Edgewood Park, and many more natural landscapes. We also reveled in an unprecedented lupine flower bloom at Folsom Lake in 2021, so we’ll see if it returns.
Some other blooms we’ve enjoyed in past years include Bermuda Buttercups in Davenport and wild mustard in Half Moon Bay, although both are invasive species. In fact, in a rare exception to the “don’t step on the flowers” rule, Iacopi Farms invited visitors to walk among their invasive wild mustard bloom and even charged $10 admission fees. The flowers were crushed at the end of the season anyway to fertilize the land.
Finally, if you want to see a “superbloom” with a little more pizzazz, Bruce Munro’s giant LED Field of Light is still wowing crowds in Paso Robles. The superbloom-inspired light installation comprises nearly 60,000 solar-powered light-up spheres, whose colors change and shimmer to a custom musical score.