FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 20, 2025
Contact: Ryan McCauley
650-772-3644, rmccauley@openspace.org
Today’s spring equinox heralds wildflower season
Preserve visitors are encouraged to be polite to the poppies
Los Altos, CA — Today marks the official first day of spring and the longer, lighter days mean seasonal wildflowers are beginning to bloom in Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) preserves and other public lands throughout the region.
“In many locations, wildflowers are a testament to the habitat restoration efforts of Midpen staff, volunteers and partners,” said Midpen vegetation ecologist Coty Sifuentes-Winter. “The wildflowers we love to look at and take photos of are also critical food sources for wildlife such as butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.”
Wildflowers bloom year-round in Santa Cruz Mountains and Bay Area, located within a global biodiversity hotspot. Spring offers the most diversity of wildflowers peaking from March to May depending on various environmental factors such as rainfall amounts and timing.
Midpen manages 25 publicly accessible open space preserves throughout the greater Santa Cruz Mountains region, with more than 250 miles of trail that are free and open to the public daily. From coastal grasslands to redwood forests, chaparral and oak woodland, each preserve offers unique environments and wildflower communities.
Many preserve parking areas can fill on weekends and holidays, which can be avoided by visiting on a weekday or late-afternoon. Midpen embraces “Leave No Trace” principles to help protect the natural environment, including encouraging visitors to:
- Stay on established trails: Off-trail venturing tramples wildflowers and compacts soil leading to decreased blooms in subsequent years.
- Take photos, not flowers: Leave the wildflowers in nature allowing them to complete their lifecycles and provide food for wildlife.
- Take photos OF flowers, not IN flowers: Taking photos from established trails helps ensure the wildflowers will bloom again next spring.
There are many ways to connect with nature and observe wildflowers this spring. Consider joining a free, Midpen docent naturalist-led guided activity, or download a wildflower guide from Midpen’s website to explore your own.
Midpen’s new online Trail Explorer tool can also be used from a web-connected device to plan your route before leaving home, including the ability to filter trails by sun exposure, steepness, trail width and more.
For more information, list of trails for wildflower viewing and a wildflower guide, please visit openspace.org/wildflowers.