05/30/2026
It’s time for another post, and it’s an absolutely beautiful weekend to go out looking for flowers! The wildflowers continue to bloom here in the Eastern Sierra, with blooms starting to move up to higher elevations.
Right now, things are popping around the 6000’ mark especially. Though we’re still finding quite a lot of color in pockets around the valley, from fields of Mojave lupine in the volcanic tablelands to woollyaster and desert calico blooming around Bishop and Big Pine. Wet areas around Fish Slough are filled with blooming yerba mansa right now, with it’s unique white flowers.
This continues to be the season of desert paintbrush, with some of the best blooms we’ve seen in years. Look for these bright red blooms to be particularly thick on rocky exposed slopes between 6000-8000’ in elevation right now. We’ve recently spotted gorgeous clusters of paintbrush in Mazourka Canyon, around Mono Lake and various roads heading into the Sierra.
The buckwheat is also blooming throughout the Eastern Sierra and Great Basin right now. Bright yellow sulphur buckwheat is especially vibrant and easy to spot right now, but we’re also seeing California buckwheat, cushion buckwheat, Thomas’ buckwheat and more. Buckwheat is an amazing genus of plants, with over 125 species found in California alone, many of which are endemic. These resilient and adaptable plants are exceptionally drought tolerant and manage to thrive in harsh conditions, with types of buckwheat found in habitats ranging from Death Valley to the highest summits of the Sierra!
Heading up into the mountains, you can find gorgeous displays of apricot mallow, bush lupine, brittlebush, desert peach, cold phlox, and more. We also noticed carpets of monkey flower blooming out by Mono Lake, bright blankets of pink in the sagebrush.
We hope you can get out this weekend to enjoy some of the blooms! As always, please practice leave no trace and don’t pick or trample the flowers.
