I was searching the desert wildflower blog for much of the month of March. I was hoping to spot when and where to find wildflowers decorating New Mexico for my parents' visit last week.
The wildflowers were as few and far between as the blogs seemed to suggest, however. No New Mexico wildflower posts appeared until late in the month, and then only for the far southwestern section of the state. Even drought-stricken California had more posts this year. Exploring the southwestern corners of New Mexico, we did not find much either.
Although things may be looking up for New Mexico this year, with the past water year coming out at 111% of normal across the state (averaged out), it may not be doing much to make up for the long-term drought. Snowpack in most places is still clocking in below the median, and in a few places comes out far below average.
The lack of snowpack is in line with the predictions for rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation in the Southwest. The San Augustin Basin looked dry last week. My dad's memories of southern New Mexico in spring in the 1960s were, he said, a lot greener. Then again, it may just be a little early for spring that high up.
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| Pronghorn Antelope in the San Augustin Basin near the Very Large Array in late March. Photo credit: ©Cathy Day |
Generally, what we found for wildflowers seemed to line up pretty well with the wildflower blog. We did not see a lot of cactus or other wildflowers in bloom most places we went in our tour of the southwestern part of the state.
We did hit it lucky with a few specimens in the San Francisco River basin, however.
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| Desert Star? Photo credit: ©Cathy Day |
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| Fringed Gromwell (Lithospermum incisum) Photo credit: ©Cathy Day |
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| Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) Photo credit: ©Cathy Day |
The drought continues to affect a lot of New Mexico. It is certainly still having noticeable effects in the Mesilla Valley. With Elephant Butte Reservoir still below 20% capacity, we are not seeing any water in the Rio Grande as it runs through Las Cruces.
We will see what this El Niño year brings to New Mexico. So far, things are still looking pretty dry, despite some winter rains.
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