The Central Coast is one of the regions in the country lucky enough to enjoy wildflowers during the spring months.
While blooms are typical for the Central Coast, superblooms aren’t guaranteed, as they depend on specific weather patterns and rain totals.
Friends and Atascadero residents Jerri Busick and Shirl Capaci said they are eagerly awaiting a superbloom this year.
“We look forward to it because it was years of drought. We didn't have that. And so when we have the rain... we all get excited and going like, you know, let's go or we take our family out there,” Busick said.
Fellow Atascadero resident Devin Best graduated with a degree in ethnobotany and explained how superblooms occur.
“There's a bloom every single year, but when you actually have the right conditions, whether it’s basically a really wet year in a couple of wet years in a row, the soils themselves actually have enough moisture to support a superbloom,” Best said.
He added that this winter’s rains and milder temperatures could make for a better superbloom.
“Because last year was so wet and for so long that when plants are actually starting to germinate, you almost want things to be a little bit drier. And so even though the ground is actually fairly wet, it’s drying up fairly quickly, and so there's a potential to actually see a better super bloom this year,” Best said.
He says the best times to see the blooms are between now and mid-April.
Those who wish to see the blooms can do so at the following locations:
- Shell Creek Rd.
- Bitterwater Rd.
- Carrizo Plain National Monument
- Montaña de Oro State Park
If you do visit the blooms, remember to tread lightly and not on the flowers themselves!
