Article

Why Summer Is My Favorite Time to Explore Local Wildflowers

What's blooming in mid to late summer, and where you can find these flowers in the Santa Cruz Mountains region.

By Emily Bloom

Aug. 20, 2024—If you weren’t able to make it out onto the trail to see this year’s wildflower blooms in April, May or June, fear not, because you did not miss this year’s wildflowers entirely. We are lucky to live in an area that is incredibly biodiverse, which means you can find flowers blooming in and around the Santa Cruz Mountains year-round. Though we all love the lush "superblooms" of California’s spring, when the hills are dappled with every color of the rainbow, my favorite season to find wildflowers is high summer.

Sometimes, looking for the small red pin pricks of the cardinal catchfly flower, the milky white blooms of the common yarrow, or the sunny yellow face of a tarweed among the brown, dry grass is so much more rewarding than stumbling across fields and fields of flowers. (Although don’t get me wrong, I like that too). Sometimes, these late-blooming wildflowers can feel like a secret that is kept between you and the trail.

It takes a special flower to bloom so late in the season. The long, dry months are not hospitable to the delicate blooms that must remain moist to thrive. So, many of the flowers that do bloom in August have evolved to withstand heat and lack of water. Some flowers have bulbs or taproots that store water beneath the soil, while others have leaves that are specially designed to hold water. Other plants adapt to the heat by only blooming in specific locations where there is more moisture available in these late summer months, such as by a stream, in the redwood forest, or by the coast.

Many animals in our region even fall into a version of summer hibernation called “estivation” in order to avoid the hottest, driest parts of the year, and thereby retain water.

Late-Summer Bloomers

By the time August rolls around, the hills have definitively turned golden, and many of our native shrubs have died back as they too try to conserve water during the harshest month of summer, but there are still many blooming flowers to find if you know where to look.

These flowers are essential members of our local ecosystems as well. The late-blooming wildflowers that remain through the doldrums of summer not only brighten our days, but they also provide food for our native pollinators when all other flowers have wilted. Late summer and fall is also the time that migrating birds begin their journey back south, and the late-blooming flowers and their seeds provide food for these birds’ long journeys.

Many of the flowers listed below are also great candidates for native pollinator gardens. Consider planting some late-blooming native flowers to provide food throughout the summer to the pollinators in your backyard.

So, exactly what flowers can one find in late summer? There are some flowers that thrive in the heat, and only show us their pretty blooms as summer begins to fade into fall. In this region, we also have the benefit of living near the Pacific coast, which remains moister, cooler, and more hospitable to flowers year-round than the rest of the Bay Area.

Learn more about some of the flowers you may find blooming as summer comes to a close:

Seven Summer Wildflowers

1. California fuchsia
California fuchsia (Epilobium canum) is the quintessential late-blooming flower in California. This bright red bloom in the primrose family begins blooming in August, and its flowers can last until October in the right conditions.

These attractive blooms are popular in native gardens. The scarlet flowers attract hummingbirds, and serve as an important nectar source for these birds while other sources are scarce. They also provide food for butterflies, bees and more.

2. Cardinal catchfly
The cardinal catchfly’s (Silene laciniata) eye-catching, starburst-shaped flowers are a treat to find on an late summer hike. The name catchfly refers to the small, sticky hairs on the stems and leaves of the plant which often catch small insects.

These plants have a deep taproot that helps them find and store water to get them through the hot, dry summer months. You can find these attractive blossoms growing from June to September

3. Elegant rein orchid
One of the most interesting late-blooming flowers native to the Santa Cruz Mountains is the elegant rein orchid (Platanthera elegans). There are not many orchids native to this part of the world, but the elegant rein orchid is a particularly unique and striking one.

These plants grow from an underground tuber, and bloom from a single, three-foot long stem. The stem is covered in a column of densely packed, white and green flowers. The elegant rein orchid blooms from July to October, and can be found growing in open forested areas near the coast.

4. Common yarrow
You can find common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) growing all over California, blooming for most of the year. But that doesn’t make this flower any less special.

It blooms from March to October in our region, and can be found in nearly every habitat. However, these flowers serve as incredibly important food sources for many insects and birds. It can attract beneficial insects to a native flower garden.

5. Seaside daisy
The adorable blooms of the seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus) add cheer to late-summer and early-fall hikes near the California coast. These plants bloom profusely from May through October.
The flowers range in color from white to lavender to pink, but always display a large, yellow center, which attracts butterflies and bees.

6. Coastal bush lupine
Lupines are a very classic spring flower, but there are some lupines that you can find blooming well into summer and sometimes even into fall. The coastal bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus) is easy to recognize: its large spikes of bright yellow flowers are hard to mistake for anything else.

This plant grows very large, sometimes up to eight feet tall. It can often be found growing in sunny, sandy coastal dune areas. This plant provides important habitat and food for birds and butterflies near the coast, especially as they migrate south toward the end of summer.

Coastal bush lupines have a very long blooming season. You can view its iconic golden flowers from April all the way to late August, depending on the plant’s location and the year’s weather conditions.

7. Hooker’s evening primrose
Hooker’s evening primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hookeri) is a large, bushy flowering plant that primarily grows along the California coast. During the late summer, these bushes are often completely covered with striking yellow blooms.

It is called an evening primrose because its flowers tend to only open in the late afternoon, and are closed by morning. This nocturnally flowering plant is primarily pollinated by moths, especially the sphinx moth.

The blooms have an enchanting smell that makes these plants worth seeking out on an evening stroll.

Find Wildflowers Now!

If you want to learn more about where you can find these flowers, check out Hilltromper’s BloomTracker update for late summer wildflowers (available until our next update due out this fall).

Learning about, and seeking out colorful blooms in every season can help us connect more deeply with the environment around us, and appreciate the diversity and variety that each part of the year has to offer.

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