Bloom Reports from the Anza-Borrego Desert: 2025-2026
Table of Contents
Latest Summary of Bloom Status
Bloom Reports from Individual Hikes This Season
Links to Other Webpages on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms
Background Information for Bloom Reports from the Anza-Borrego Desert
Older Bloom Reports from 2009 to present
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| Fig. 1. Most areas of the Borrego Desert west of Borrego Springs have abundant baby annuals that have recently germinated and won't bloom until February to March 2026. Two species are shown above. Left: Phacelia distans, common phacelia. Right: Pholistoma membranaceum, white fiesta flower. Both photographs by Kate Harper, taken on 23 December 2025 in Mine Canyon.
Click on the pix to go to the original iNat observations. There are a small number of scattered plants of Phacela distans with blooms, from the September rain, but no plants of Pholistoma membranaceum in bloom yet. | |
Latest Summary of Bloom Status
Summary as of 27 December 2025
The 2025 to 2026 main wildflower season is off to a good start. It began with September 2025 rainfall that germinated some spring annuals in some locations, and has produced a beautiful display in the flower fields along east Henderson Canyon Road. The September rain was followed by good widespread November rainfall that has germinated most of our spring annuals, and modest December rainfall to keep plants happy.
The November and December rainfall guarantees at least a decent year of small annual plants in bloom in the desert west of the desert floor. Whether it will be a good year or better, with bigger, more showy annuals, in most of the Borrego Desert depends on future rain and heat.
Most areas of the Borrego Desert have only a small number of plants in bloom. Areas to the east of Borrego Springs look pretty dry for the most part. But as is typical in most good years, areas to the west of Borrego Springs look good, with happy shrubs and baby annuals. Fig. 1 shows two of our most common annuals have just producing their first true leaves as of 23 December 2025.
The major exception to this general rule is the Henderson Canyon Road flower fields. They have been showy since mid-November 2025, with literally thousands of plants in full bloom of desert sand verbena, dune evening primrose, and hairy desert sunflower (Abronia villosa, Oenothera deltoides, and Geraea canescens). This display looks like it will keep going through the spring, if there are no killing frosts. See Fig. 2 for photographs one month apart.
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| Fig. 2. Photos from the Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields taken one month apart.
Top: Left: Field of desert sand verbena, Abronia villosa, and hairy desert sunflower, Geraea canescens. Right: Field of hairy desert sunflower, Geraea canescens. Photos by Pam Blake, taken on 20 November 2025. Click on the pix for larger versions. Bottom: Left: A field of desert sand verbena, Abronia villosa, peppered with dune evening primrose, Oenothera deltoides taken by @dgrimmphd on 22 December 2025. Right: A field of hairy desert sunflower, Geraea canescens, taken by @plantbard on 20 December 2025.
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An overview of the bloom status throughout the park is provided by iNat observations tagged as being in bloom. In roughly the last two weeks, 12 December 2025 and later, throughout the Borrego Desert area there have been 850 posts of 124 plant species tagged as being in bloom (as of 27 December 2025).
Breaking it down by area, from roughly north to south (click on the links to get a map of each area and the iNat posts):
- Clark Valley / southern Santa Rosa Mountains / Borrego Badlands have just 18 obs of 12 species in bloom.
- The Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields have 277 obs of 29 species in bloom, dominated heavily by tens of thousands of plants of just three species: desert sand verbena, dune evening primrose, and hairy desert sunflower (Abronia villosa, Oenothera deltoides, and Geraea canescens).
- The Coyote Creek area, from the end of the pavement of Di Giorgio Road to the Third Crossing area, has 166 obs of 43 species in bloom.
- Henderson Canyon, Borrego Palm Canyon, Hellhole Canyon, and Glorietta Canyon have 178 obs of 48 species in bloom.
- Mine Canyon / Pinyon Mountain Road Area has 130 obs of 60 species in bloom.
- Blair Valley / Rainbow Canyon Area has just 17 obs of 15 species in bloom
- Agua Caliente / Canyon 41 / Canebrake area has just 14 obs of 11 species in bloom.
- The southernmost part of the park, Indian Canyon, Torote Canyon, Carrizo Creek has just 18 obs of 15 species in bloom.
All of these numbers will be larger if you click on them after 27 December 2025.
Summary of the best areas:
- If you want to see thousands of plants in bloom, but with very low plant diversity (i.e., few plant species), the Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields is your only option.
- If you want to see the most number of plant species in bloom, and don't mind that there may be only a single plant of some species in bloom, Mine Canyon / Pinyon Mountain Road Area tops the list, with 60 species in bloom, followed by canyons west of Borrego Springs, Henderson Canyon, Borrego Palm Canyon, Hellhole Canyon, and Glorietta Canyon, with 48 species in bloom, and then the Coyote Creek area with 43 species in bloom.
- If you want to see baby annuals and happy shrubs not yet in bloom, almost all areas west of the desert floor are good.
See also previous versions of this page which reported on the monsoonal blooms caused by late August and September 2025 rainfall.
Bloom Reports from Individual Hikes This Season
The latest bloom reports are given first (i.e., the reports are in inverse order of time). As detailed immediately above, you can see a map of where the hikes were from any linked iNat post of the species in bloom. For many more bloom reports, see Anza-Borrego Wildflowers Bloom Report by Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen.
30 December 2025: Anza Borrego 2025-12-30 Botanical Report by @planetaverde303. 10 species in bloom.
22 December 2025: Mine Canyon by Tom Chester and Kate Harper. 27 species in bloom, 25 native.
17 December 2025: Pholisma Branch of Mine Canyon by Tom Chester and Don Rideout. 31 species in bloom, 30 native.
12 December 2025: Pinyon Mountain Road by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, Steve and Gaylee Rogers. 34 species in bloom.
5 and 8 December 2025: Coyote Creek Area from Di Giorgio Road to Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields by Tom Chester and Don Rideout, and Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields by Tom Chester.
5 December 2025: Anza Borrego 2025-12-05 Botanical Report by @planetaverde303. 14 species in bloom.
26 November 2025: Palo Verde Canyon by Tom Chester and Don Rideout. Just three species in bloom, with only a single plant for two of them.
23 November 2025: Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields by Tom Chester, Jeff Field, Don Rideout, Jim Roberts, and Mark and Rebecca Stevens.
17 November 2025: Coyote Creek Di Giorgio Road to First Crossing by Tom Chester, Ted Caragozian, and Don Rideout, Ted Caragozian. 37 species in bloom.
16 November 2025: South Anza-Borrego by @planetaverde303.
12 November 2025: Pinyon Mountain Road Area by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, Jim Roberts, and Abbyann Sisk. 39 species in bloom!
3 November 2025: Anza Borrego, by @planetaverde303.
23 October 2025: Culp Valley / Borrego Springs by Tom Chester, Ted Caragozian, Walt Fidler, Don Rideout, and Jim Roberts.
18 October 2025: car trip from just north of Canebrake to Blair Valley by @planetaverde303.
17 October 2025: Culp Valley Campground / Pena Spring Area by Tom Chester, Jeff Field, Jim Roberts, and Tom White.
5 October 2025: Monsoonal Car Trip along S2 from Scissors Crossing to Bisnaga Alta Wash by Tom Chester, Craig Denson, Don Rideout, Mark and Rebecca Stevens, and Cathy Wiley
28 September 2025: car trip from Yuha Desert in Imperial County to lower Blair Valley by @planetaverde303.
10 September 2025: car trip from Borrego Springs to Salton City, and back via SR78 by Tom Chester and Don Rideout.
1 September 2025: car trip from the San Felipe Valley to Indian Gorge / Torote Canyon by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, and Jim Roberts.
Links to Other Webpages on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms
Anza-Borrego Wildflowers Bloom Report by Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen, often with daily wildflower updates.
All iNaturalist observations in the Borrego Desert since 15 August 2025, 3,574 observations of 267 species (numbers are as of 20 October 2025; click on "Filters" to change the dates).
Wildflower Updates from the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park official site, with wildflower information on it. When they start producing current wildflower reports, click on the link near the top with the word Update, which might be updated weekly.
DesertUSA Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Reports
Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute Wildflowers and their Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Hotline: (760)767-4684. "Information on this recording is updated regularly."
Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline (Reports begin the first Friday in March)