San Diego Flowers

Other wildflower hot spots to watch: Cabrillo National Monument, Carmel Mountain Preserve, Florida Canyon and Mission Trails Regional Park, and in July, Cuyamaca Rancho Point out Park and Cleveland National Forest.

What is the supreme local spot for wildflower viewing?

It is difficult to beat 600,000 ooh-ahh acres at Anza-Borrego. It gets crowded on DiGiorgio Road throughout March with a crush of 10,000 weekend visitors, park volunteer Ron Burge said. Elbow your way to Henderson Canyon Road and Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail.

What is that flower? Shrug. It might be any from the 2,500 plants identified in San Diego County. Get a book or check the on the internet catalog called the Plant Atlas at sdplantatlas.org. Anza-Borrego, get a plant map at the visitors center or the State Park Shop on Palm Canyon Road next to Calico's pizza joint.

Do rangers who work the Point out Park Store eat lots of Calico's pizza?

Ranger Steve says they do.

What are some memorable San Diego Flowers, smell-wise?

"People don't ask about the scent," said the Anza-Borrego Foundation's Baker. When pressed, she kindly answered: The desert dandelion doesn't have much of a smell. Following a long day hiking via the desert, verify around for a flower that looks like a violin bow, the checker fiddle neck - that musty smell may be coming from them. And if you are a coffee drinker from the South, you may recognize the aroma of coffee weed, aka the perennial chicory as one from the San Diego flowers.

Botanist Rebman added: "Desert lily. It smells fantastic, particularly at dusk and dawn when it's attracting hawk moths as large as hummingbirds."

What if I do not want to leave my car to see San Diego Flowers? Drive along the SR-52 going to Miramar and glance in the flowering San Diego Mesa mint within the pools of rainwater, aka vernal pools. The S-2 via Borrego Springs to Ocotillo in Imperial County should turn up some color. But don't be fooled by pretty intruders who've come to wreck the native San Diego Flowers' party, like the Saharan mustard in Anza-Borrego and the yellow African daisy, aka "freeway daisies," at Fiesta Island. Soon, the hillside off I-5 in Sorrento Valley will turn a gorgeous yellow with an invasive black mustard species.

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