Wildflowers

Bright blossoms like bush poppy play the important role of attracting pollinators.

NPS / Will Elder

Blooming Season at Pinnacles National Park

The peak blooming season at Pinnacles runs from March through May, when over 80 percent of the park’s plants are in bloom. However, depending on rainfall and temperature, flowers can begin opening as early as January and continue into June, or even into July during particularly wet years.

• Early Bloomers (January - February): Common early bloomers include manzanita, milkmaids, shooting stars, and Indian warriors.
• March Blooms: By March, the landscape is dominated by flowering shrubs like bush poppies and buck brush, alongside forbs such as California poppies, fiddleneck, peppergrass, filaree, fiesta flower, monkeyflower, and baby blue-eyes.
• April Blooms: Many species from March continue to blossom, and additional blooms such as Johnny-jump-ups, virgin's bower, gilia, suncups, chia, black sage, pitcher sage, larkspur, and bush lupine join the vibrant display.
• May Blooms: Early bloomers may still be visible, but the focus shifts to species that thrive in hotter, drier conditions, including chamise, buckwheat, clarkias, orchids, penstemons, and roses.

Late-blooming species may still be seen in early June during wet or cool years, but by mid-June or early July, the summer heat sets in, and fewer blossoms remain.