The sun sets in an area where wildflowers bloom near Dumont Dunes outside of Tecopa, Calif., on April 1. TECOPA, Calif. — Sometimes the desert holds its secrets close, whispering them only to those who carefully listen. But this year, the hottest and driest place in America might as well be shouting.
For people like Fraga, a desert plant specialist, and her frequent collaborator, Patrick Donnelly, who lives in Shoshone and works as the Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity, good wildflower years are restorative. Operating in one of the world’s most extreme places — where the sobering realities of climate change hang in the air like sand on the wind — takes its toll.
For one, there’s no scientific definition. Its precise origins are unclear, but it appears to be rooted in National Park Service lore. Old-timers stationed in Death Valley were using the term in the ’90s,10 years earlier described that spring’s desert bloom as perhaps the best of the century, but did not employ the “super” superlative.
What makes this year unique, Fraga said, is the size of the plants and the longevity of their blooms, features she attributes to the unusual mix of summer and winter precipitation. Good wildflower years allow botanists like Fraga to collect samples of rare specimens and gather seeds to be used in future restoration efforts.