It's That Time of Year Again--Wildflower Season!

Enjoy the Wildflowers with The Wine Wrangler

It may not have been the wet winter that we were looking for on California’s Central Coast, but when it comes to the landscape of Paso Robles Wine Country, the wildflowers are starting to bloom. These colorful pops of color are set against a backdrop of velvety green hills. A feast for the eyes and when combined with one of The Wine Wrangler’s Adventure Wine TastingTours—your palate will enjoy the experience, too, because really, the best compliment to a beautiful landscape is a beautiful wine.

This is the time of the year when our state flower, the California poppy paints the landscape with a vibrant orange tapestry, and while most people can easily recognize it when they see it, there are several other common wildflowers native to our area that you may not recognize.

Keep your eyes peeled for these 5 common wildflowers:

Sweet Fennel: Yes, the same fennel that gives Italian sausage an anise, or licorice, flavoring, grows wild throughout the Central Coast and California. Sweet Fennel has feathery fronds and yellow flowers and grows in tall clumps.

Yellow Dandelion: In the backyard, these vibrant yellow flowers are a pest, but on the vibrant green hillsides, they’re but added jewels on the vibrant green hillsides.

Shooting Stars: These flowers are easily recognized by their star-shaped blooms and bright red flowers.

Sweet Pea: Delightful in the early spring garden, but seriously magnificent climbing up the rocking cliffs. These beauties have butterfly-shaped petals and come in an array of colors from pale lavender to deep red.

Lupine: Vibrant hues of purple, these slender flowers (they look like a cross between hyacinth and lavender) also have an intense fragrance that depending on your sense of smell, can be either pleasurably intoxicating, or repulsive. No matter, they’re beautiful and add depth to the tapestry of wildflowers.

The wildflowers are seasonal eye-candy and well-worth enjoying, but we think you’ll enjoy them more when you combine a bit of sight-seeing with a Wine Wrangler Adventure Tour. Besides, what goes better with Paso Robles Wine country scenery, than a local Central Coast wine from one of the 12 AVA’s that make up the Paso Robles Wine region?