Clearly, there’s no scarcity of flowers in Southern California. As I write this close to the tip of 2024, roses, iris and California fuchsia are nonetheless blooming in my Ventura backyard, and hummingbirds are darting amongst tall orange whorls of lion’s tail (Leonotis leonurus) and fats magenta stalks of hummingbird sage.
New adventures are calling, one for each month of the 12 months.
That’s probably why it’s straightforward to take our blooms without any consideration in SoCal. So this 12 months, let me allow you to make a plan. I’ve compiled a listing of 12 pretty buds and their optimum bloom instances in Southern California.
Please word, it is a restricted and extremely subjective record not meant to embody the huge variety of spectacular flowers in our area. Additionally word that these listed bloom instances are meant as guides, not absolutes, so earlier than you propose an outing, all the time test forward to make sure your favorites are literally in flower.
For floral pleasure all year long, set reminders now to take a while within the coming months to actually cease and odor the roses … or lilacs.
January: Camellias
Camellia shrubs, with their shiny darkish inexperienced leaves, soared in recognition within the mid-1900s, which is why they’re ubiquitous in established SoCal landscapes, and the leaves of some varieties — Camellia sinensis, for example — give us black tea. Nevertheless it’s the flowers, with their number of shapes, colours and perfume, that basically encourage anybody with an eye fixed for magnificence.
The legacy of camellia growers similar to F.M. Uyematsu lives on on the gardens, however Southern California nonetheless has one different internationally well-known nursery dedicated to camellias and azaleas in Altadena. Nuccio’s Nurseries provides greater than 500 types of camellias, many created by cross-pollinating bees after which nurtured by the house owners. Go to in January and February to thrill within the many selections, and take one house — they develop in pots too. And go to this 12 months, as a result of relations try to promote the property, so this chance received’t final perpetually.
February: Bulbs (daffodils, tulips, and so forth.)
Bulbs are defiant harbingers of spring in colder climes, typically pushing up by means of the snow of their zeal to greet the solar and unfold a bit of coloration on a bleak panorama of slushy grays. We don’t face that drawback a lot in SoCal, in fact, however our final two winters have been so damp and grey that I practically wept with pleasure final February when the primary daffodils burst forth in my soggy backyard.
Twin Peaks, a tiny city close to Lake Arrowhead, has planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs as a part of the Julie Greer Daffodil Challenge. Greer, a resident of Twin Peaks’ Strawberry Flat neighborhood, beloved daffodils and commenced planting lots of of the bulbs round her neighborhood in 1999 with the assistance of her husband, Tom, and shut good friend Julie Hale. After Greer died from breast most cancers in 2001, residents planted hundreds extra bulbs in her honor of their yards and alongside State Freeway 189, creating a gorgeous spring show.
Tulips often begin blooming a couple of weeks later in SoCal. A number of botanic gardens, similar to South Coast Botanic Gardens in Rolling Hills Estates and the Huntington Library, Artwork Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, have tulip and bulb gardens — the Huntington vegetation them in its well-known rose backyard to create filler coloration after the roses are pruned. However for an awe-inspring show, go to Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, which vegetation 30,000 tulip bulbs each January for early spring blooms. (That is weather-dependent — take a look at the helpful “What’s in Bloom” information for extra data.)
March: California poppies and wildflowers
Fields filled with wildflowers are breathtaking. They appear to create a type of joyful delirium, which is why each spring specialists get the identical exasperating query: Will there be a superbloom? The question is particularly necessary to SoCal residents, as we reside comparatively near large bloom areas like Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore, Carrizo Plain Nationwide Monument close to Santa Margarita and quite a few state parks similar to Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Chino Hills State Park.
Please word that “superblooms,” when hillsides are blanketed with coloration like vibrant quilts mendacity in opposition to the bottom, are comparatively uncommon. However we often get some pretty wildflower shows yearly, straightforward to identify on hikes within the desert or close by mountains, and even alongside the hills that line our freeways. Rule of thumb: Wildflower blooms are triggered by warming temperatures, so desert areas will see blooms sooner than larger elevations. Verify the Theodore Payne Basis’s Wild Flower Hotline, which supplies updates each Friday about one of the best viewing spots for wildflowers from March by means of June. Be aware: It’s all the time a foul thought to park your automobile on a freeway shoulder so you possibly can sprint up a hill and trample some wildflowers in your quest for a colourful selfie. Admire rigorously, with out destroying or choosing.
April: Roses
Virtually each SoCal botanic backyard value its salt has some area dedicated to the genus Rosa, together with a couple of public parks and ranchos, similar to Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum in Rancho Dominguez, Rancho Los Alamitos in Lengthy Seaside and Exposition Park in South L.A. However most likely essentially the most extraordinary is the rose backyard on the Huntington Library, Artwork Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Fortunate for us, Arabella Huntington beloved roses, as a result of the botanic backyard she and her husband left behind options greater than 1,300 varieties, tended by famed rose breeder Tom Carruth, who left his job creating new rose varieties at Weeks Roses to grow to be the Huntington’s rose backyard curator.
Roses are harder than you’d suppose — through the drought I spied many residential yards with useless lawns and an previous rose bush nonetheless valiantly blooming regardless of neglect and lack of water. April is the month most varieties enter full bloom, however these vegetation like Southern California, so count on to see roses blooming nicely into late fall.
Could: Lilacs
I see your eyebrows arching … lilacs? In Southern California? Properly, sure, and I don’t simply imply the native ceanothus shrubs, a.ok.a. California lilacs, that begin coloring (and perfuming) our wild hills and plenty of native habitat gardens as early as March. Varieties similar to Joyce Coulter (Ceanothus ‘Joyce Coulter’) look very very similar to the standard lilacs (i.e., Syringa vulgaris) that require freezing winter temperatures to profusely bloom.
Descanso Gardens has developed heat-tolerant hybrids for its backyard, and there’s additionally a low-chill selection often called Seaside Occasion. Or you possibly can develop them in mountain areas, similar to Idyllwild, the place Gary Parton, a retired faculty artwork trainer, has nurtured 165 varieties in his Idyllwild Lilac Gardens.
For 20 years, Parton has opened his lilac backyard to the general public without spending a dime each spring, however 2025 would be the final time. You may go to each Friday, Saturday and Sunday from the final weekend of April by means of Could from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. After that, Parton, 86, is placing his house and close to acre of wind up on the market to maneuver to hotter climes.
June: Lavender
What’s it about lavender that makes folks wish to don gauzy garments and wander the fields, fingers trailing by means of the aromatic flowers? (There should be a Hallmark film in right here someplace.) These Mediterranean native flowers have a scent that retains giving, even should you strip all of the little buds off the upright stalks and put them in a container.
Southern California has a number of lavender fields close to L.A. to fulfill your day-trip, lavender-field cravings. When you do an internet seek for “lavender farms Southern California,” you’ll get a good-sized record for farms north of Los Angeles, similar to Frog Creek Farm in Ojai, Foxen Canyon Farms in Solvang, Lavender Fields Without end in Buellton and Clairmont Farms in Los Olivos. To the east, you’ll discover 123 Farm in Cherry Valley, the Fork & Plow Lavender Farm in Aguanga (19 miles east of Temecula) and Ross Lake Lavender Farm in Fallbrook.
July: Sunflowers
When you have even a scrap of sunny floor for planting, undoubtedly push a sunflower seed into the bottom this winter and stand again — it’s not precisely like Jack and the Beanstalk, however the best way sunflowers develop is actually miraculous. In just some months, that little seed can develop twice as tall as the typical American male (5-foot-9), with a stalk as thick as his arm and flowers far greater than a human head.
Sunflowers are available in all sizes, shapes and colours, from gigantic to knee-highs designed to fill a vase with completely satisfied flowers. We even have the California native sunflower (Helianthus annuus) adorning our wild hills, an annual reseeder that Bruce Schwartz of the L.A. Native Plant Supply calls “a living bird feeder” due to the secure perches and meals the plant supplies.
A couple of farms in Southern California develop fields of sunflowers for wandering and choosing, with flowers blooming from summer season into fall, together with Tanaka Farms’ Hana Discipline in Costa Mesa, the Pumpkin Station in Rancho Bernardo (close to Escondido — name forward to see when flowers are prepared for choosing) and Carlsbad Strawberry Co. in Carlsbad, which usually has a sunflower maze for images (no choosing) within the fall.
August: California buckwheat
Come midsummer, it’s straightforward to identify native California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) shrubs rising within the wild areas of central and Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The massive spreading shrubs are coated with flowers that develop in thick bunches, like cream-colored bouquets dotted with pink within the spring. Late within the 12 months, the flowers flip a good-looking copper coloration, however in August, they’re mid-change, so from a distance, the shrubs look speckled with cream and rust.
Up shut, you instantly perceive why these shrubs are thought-about a keystone species — certainly one of SoCal’s most necessary habitat vegetation — as a result of the flowers are alive with bees, butterflies and a large number of different nectar-loving bugs, to not point out the birds who fortunately dine at this insect buffet.
You may see buckwheats on the California Botanic Backyard in Claremont, the state’s largest backyard dedicated to California native vegetation, in addition to on the Theodore Payne Basis in Solar Valley and Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano.
September: Crape myrtle
Hear that rumbling? That’s the sound of shade tree advocates sad that I’m mentioning crape myrtles on this record. However my mother beloved these showy timber with the colourful crepe-papery flowers, as did my grandmother, and a couple of billion-jillion different SoCal residents who’ve planted them in yards, round companies and alongside many metropolis streets. These timber are a triple risk, mentioned Los Angeles County Arboretum arborist Frank McDonough: stunning bloomers in late summer season with clouds of frilly flowers in purples, pinks, fuchsia and white; dramatic crimson and gold leaves within the fall; and sculptural bark that makes the naked tree pretty in winter.
So why the grumbling? Crape myrtles are so standard they’ve grow to be the outstanding timber in some cities, which suggests these cities may lose a lot of their city forest if the timber have been attacked by a illness or insect. And whereas crape myrtles are pretty to behold and require little water as soon as they’re established, they don’t present a lot in the best way of shade, an issue whenever you’re attempting to scale back city warmth ranges.
Regardless of these issues, these jap Asian natives are nonetheless pretty after they’re blooming within the late summer season and early fall, and in contrast to the a lot beloved and far despised jacaranda, their magnificent flowers don’t go away a slippery purple mess on vehicles and sidewalks. The Arboretum has one of many largest collections outdoors of metropolis streets, McDonough mentioned, however it’s also possible to see them on the San Diego Zoo, Descanso Gardens and the Japanese Backyard on the Huntington Library, Artwork Museum, and Botanical Gardens. However for the sake of range and our growing want for shade, take into account planting one thing else round your small business or house.
October: Chrysanthemums
Come October, it’s inconceivable to stroll right into a grocery store or ironmongery store with out seeing a military of potted chrysanthemums in lots of sizes and colours. However these retail shows, principally meant for adorning entrance porches and patios, are simply the tip of the iceberg.
One of many nation’s premier chrysanthemum growers, Sunnyslope Gardens, operated in San Gabriel for some 70 years, however the nursery closed greater than a decade in the past. Now ardent chrysanthemum growers in Southern California commerce with one another, mentioned George MacDonald, outgoing president of the San Gabriel Valley Chrysanthemum Society, or purchase on-line from King’s Mums in Oklahoma, which provides 130 cultivars in addition to publications for individuals who wish to develop their very own.
The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Backyard at California State College Lengthy Seaside hosts a Chrysanthemum Pageant (scheduled for Nov. 8 in 2025), however most likely one of the best ways to see this flower’s many faces is on the two annual exhibits sponsored by the San Gabriel Valley Chrysanthemum Society, often the primary weekend of November on the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, and the Orange County Chrysanthemum Society, often the final weekend in October, at Sherman Library & Gardens at Corona del Mar.
November: Poinsettias
By November, poinsettias begin crowding mums out of retail shows, and sure, I do know the plant’s showy crimson “petals” aren’t truly flowers however leaves — the plant’s flowers are literally the small yellow facilities — and today, cultivars are available in many different colours, together with cream, pink, white, pale inexperienced, orange and speckled.
It was SoCal nurseryman Paul Ecke Sr. who took a little-known, spindly outside plant from Central America within the early Twenties and bred it right into a hardy potted plant “whose tapering red leaves have been synonymous with the Yuletide season for more than 70 years,” based on his obituary in 1991. Ecke began rising and promoting his poinsettias in a discipline on Sundown Boulevard however moved to Encinitas round 1923, the place Ecke Ranch grew to become the most important poinsettia producer on the planet.
The household enterprise was offered in 2012, and the corporate’s poinsettias are primarily grown in Guatemala now. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless attainable to see greenhouses stuffed with poinsettias in Encinitas. Weidner’s Gardens, a domestically owned, 50-year-old nursery, grows 30 varieties, based on co-owner Kalim Owens, and provides free excursions of the greenhouses yearly at 10 a.m. and a couple of p.m. on the Friday and Saturday earlier than Thanksgiving.
December: Toyon berries
OK, toyon berries should not flowers, however they’re so vibrant and festive, and native to Southern California, in order that they appeared a becoming finish to this floral calendar. This time of 12 months, you possibly can see these tall, bushy shrubs coated with berries all through Southern California, from the native plant path at Rio de Los Angeles State Park in Glassell Park to Walnut Canyon Highway resulting in the Oak Canyon Nature Heart in Anaheim Hills, to Griffith Park and lots of the different wild areas that body our SoCal cities.
Or, go to the Pure Historical past Museum of Los Angeles County, which has a grove of about 25 tall toyon in its native plant backyard. This time of 12 months, its toyon are ablaze with berries, till they’re picked clear by hungry birds, studies museum educator Lila Higgins in a pleasant article titled “California Holly: How Hollywood Didn’t Get its Name,” by which she debunks the romantic and oft-repeated fable that Hollywood acquired its identify from the toyon plant, which resembles English holly.
As a substitute, Higgins writes, the identify got here from Daeida Wilcox, spouse of Harvey Henderson Wilcox, a wealthy businessman from Kansas who, in 1886, purchased 120 acres of fig and apricot groves close to Cahuenga Cross for about $18,000 and found he may make good cash subdividing the land and promoting heaps for $1,000 every. Initially it was referred to as the Wilcox subdivision, till Daeida met a rich traveler on a prepare “who owned a fine estate in Illinois” named Hollywood. Daeida so beloved the identify that on Feb. 1, 1887, her husband filed a subdivision map within the Los Angeles County Recorder’s workplace with the identify “Hollywood.” And thus, a star was born, due to an opportunity encounter on a prepare, which is a reasonably romantic Hollywood ending in itself.