Desert Gold

March 27, 2005

Dvflowers

Provided by: Judy A Mosby
Summary authors & editors: Judy A Mosby

Death Valley in California contains over 3 million square acres, and it's blooming end to end and side to side! Desert Gold, which is also known as Desert Sunflowers, stretch as far as the eye can see in the Ashford Mill area of Death Valley -- an explosion of yellow on every hill side. I would venture to say that this is perhaps the largest desert wildflower display on Earth. The Valley has been like a tropical paradise this spring. What a delight to experience it first hand -- 2 trips weren't enough!

A land of extremes, Death Valley is the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere (282 feet or about 84 m below sea level at Badwater) and registered a temperature of 134 degrees F (56 degrees C) in 1913 -- the highest ever in the Western Hemisphere. Ordinarily Death Valley receives around 2 inches (5 cm) of rain a year, but the Furnace Creek area has recorded over 6 inches (15 cm) of rain since July of 2004, making it the wettest season on record. Typically barren, this huge valley is now alive with a profusion of colors, thanks to the most unusual wet, winter weather.

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