Natural History

Mexican Gold Poppies are the plant that is most responsible for the brilliant wildflower displays that carpet the desert once every decade or so. The magnitude of these blooms, which usually occur between late February and mid-April, depend upon winter conditions and rainfall. Gold poppies are winter annuals and typically grow on rocky slopes, plains & foothills below 4500 feet.
 

Flowers are bright yellow to orange with four petals which form a cup about 1 ½" wide. Flowers grow on a single stalk and remain open only in full sunlight. The plants grow to about 16" and have fernlike leaves about 2 ½" in length.