A prolonged drought in Southern California gave way to heavy winter rains in 2016, leading to an explosion of wildflowers across the region.
But California isn’t the only state in bloom. Some blossoms came early because of unusually warm weather, and some came right on time along with the arrival of spring.
Here, California poppies and Canterbury bells bloom at Diamond Valley Lake, near Hemet, Calif., in mid-March 2017.