The spring of 2005 in Death Valley was memorable. I traveled there, along with three fellow photographers, simply to look at flowers. Flowers in Death Valley!!? You betcha! It was one of those blooms that comes along only when conditions are absolutely perfect and that's why it’s called a hundred year bloom, which is more of a description of the rarity than a strict adherence to the calendar. In the valley seeds lay dormant in soil that can reach temperatures of 190 degrees. Indeed, this is the hottest place in North America, and one of the hottest in the world. The seeds patiently rest waiting for the right moment. That moment came in 2005. Back in November of 2004 the hot winds of autumn turned cold in the valley. It snowed before Thanksgiving. Then the skies opened up and it rain for the rest of the winter. That record-breaking rainfall of 6-1/2 inches set the stage for a truly amazing show. That amount of rain may seem like not a big deal, but it takes on a different meaning when one considers that the average rainfall in the Death Valley is only a little over 1-1/2 inches, which means it hardly ever rains there.
When we arrived at Stovepipe Wells, the show was in full swing. We quickly set up camp and drove to a good vantage point, parked alongside the road and while I remained in my truck, the others walked out into a sea of yellow desert gold sunflowers. They are by far the most abundant flower in the valley. I sat there thunderstruck, admiring the way the sunflowers changed the color of the Black Mountains. But it would have been impossible to see the extent of the bloom in the comfort of my truck, so I got out and stood in the midst of all that yellow. At my feet were tiny flowers lost to distant viewers. They ranged through all the colors of the rainbow. Some were as small as my fingertips. Most of them are rarely seen, but their seeds were there all the time, just waiting for the right moment. I don’t know the names of most of what I saw and at the time it really wasn’t important for me to be on a first name basis with them. It was enough just to bask in their glory. It has been reported that more than 1,000 native plant species grow within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park. I’m sure that most of them were showing their stuff that spring in 2005. It was an occurrence of such rarity that it has been called “the bloom of the century.” I only wish I could stick around to see if that holds true.
Q
