The California Poppy, (Eschscholzia californica) is a marvelously showy wildflower that can carpet hillsides in Southern California. Both the chaparral and desert areas should offer an exceptional show of California Poppies this year with the good winter rainfall after so many years of drought. I went off in search of the first blooms today and as I crested a hill, discovered the first stand of brilliant orange-yellow trumpets spattering the still moist terrain. It’s still early and there should be many more to follow. Check with the latest reports to see how intense the flowering is at the Poppy Reserve if you want to take a memorable hike through some of the more impressive fields of California wildflowers. Check out  the Antelope Valley Poppy reserve with its miles of hiking trails through the Antelope Buttes near Lancaster, California — just northeast of Los Angeles, east of the ‘Grapevine’ at interstate 5.