What to Know
- The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch
- The attraction's season runs from March 1 through Mother's Day each year, with peak bloom usually happening later in April
- "Escape Into Color" is the just-announced 2022 theme
The equinox is still about two months out, and crocuses are staying un-crocused, and leaving home without a jacket is not the wisest of moves, even in sunny Southern California.
And the swallows of San Juan Capistrano? They're still weeks from making their fabled return to the village and its famous mission.
But you can find other signs of spring here and there, those hue-bright, warm-of-spirit details that say life is about to get a bunch more bloomful.
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Yes, we said "a bunch more bloomful," which may not be especially poetic, but it is positively florid, a little excessive, and a bit silly, which is how spring can make us feel.
One of our state's best-known cultivated flower spots just had one of its biggest tells that winter may soon be waning: The very first Giant Tecolote Ranunculus blossom of the 2022 season just appeared at The Flower Fields.
The team at petal-filled place shared a snapshot of the first flower of the season, a deep pink beauty, on Jan. 21, 2022. Posting a photo of the first bloom of the year has become an annual tradition on the attraction's social pages.
"The very first ranunculus of the season has bloomed! We can't wait for it to be joined by 180 million of its closest friends," trumpeted the happy post.
The Carlsbad Ranch destination is home to over 50 acres of flowery spectacle each spring, with tens of millions of ultra-colorful ranunculus flowers making an almost unreal showing.
"Unreal" because the colors of these flowers almost seem to be some sort of neon-bright paint. (No paint is involved, only the flowers' natural abilities to catch eyes with their spectacular shades of yellow, red, and pink, for starters.)
There's lots more flowering at The Flower Fields, including a fresh theme for 2022: "Escape Into Color." The new theme was announced on Jan. 24, 2022, giving fans plenty to focus on before the destination opens on March 1.
Tickets went on sale earlier in January.
Good to know? The peak bloom usually arrives later in April, but people do love to visit the airy expanse throughout its limited-time run, for activities, photo opps, and more goings-on pop up throughout the attraction's busy season.
