Back in 1913, a thermometer was placed 1.5 m above the ground in California’s Death Valley, clocking a temperature of 56.7°C. This remains the highest air temperature ever recorded, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
With such searing temperatures, this arid corner of the Mojave Desert may seem like an unlikely environment for wildflowers to thrive. But that's exactly what's happening right now.
According to the National Park Service (NPS), this year's wildflower display is the best since 2016, largely due to above-average rainfall in autumn and winter.
So far this spring, the 'superbloom' has included several dazzling annual flowers, with species such as the bright-yellow desert gold (Geraea canescens) and the purple notch-leaf phacelia (Phacelia crenulata) putting on a particularly good display.
Other flowers associated with this time of year are the golden evening primrose (Camissonia brevipes), gravel ghost (Atrichoseris platyphylla) and Bigelow's monkeyflower (Mimulus bigelovii).
These low-elevation species can be found throughout Death Valley National Park and are predicted to continue blooming until mid to late March. Higher-elevation species will begin flowering in April, continuing into June.
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Death Valley wildflowers
Top image: A visitor walks among a cluster of desert gold flowers near Ashford Junction at the southern end of Death Valley National Park on 28 February 2026. Credit: Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images
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