As a child, our family took occasional road trips to visit relatives in Long Beach and up north. And one thing I always remembered was around 40 minutes into our drive, right around Carlsbad, the slopes would be awash in bright colors: The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch.
Driving along the coast today, it’s hard to believe that where residential homes, shopping malls, commercial buildings, and car dealerships now reside, this was primarily an agricultural center, and that this stretch of coastal property was ideal for growing flowers. Most of these fields are long gone, succumbing to the inevitable invasion of cookie cutter houses and SUVs. There are still some left, but they are not as frequent as before.
Carlsbad Flower Fields: A Working Farm in San Diego County
Which brings us to the flower fields at Carlsbad Ranch. A survivor in the face of progress, the 50-acre flower fields are a bit of a throwback to a different era for the San Diego region. While most of the surrounding agricultural fields have long been depleted for development, the flower fields continue to operate as a working flower farm. Owned by the Carltas Co. (a land company owned by the Ecke family of poinsettia fame), the fields will remain a perpetual agricultural or flower production under an agreement with the City of Carlsbad.
What you’ll see in the Carlsbad flower fields
Buttercup are the flowers that occur in flower fields, which were started by Edwin Frazee and his family. March and April are the months when these Tecolote buttercups, with their rose-shaped petals, are in full bloom. Grown from a bulb, which was introduced to the area by English horticulturist John Gage nearly 70 years ago, buttercup sprinkles the Carlsbad hillside in a rainbow of colors ranging from reds, oranges, whites, pinks and yellows.
The flower fields at Carlsbad Ranch are open to the public for two and a half months each spring, although the farm is a 12-month operation. Although one would think from looking at the colorful flowers that the fields are for cut flowers, in reality only about 2 percent of the flowers are sold for this purpose.
What the fields produce are buttercup bulbs, which will be sold all over the world. The bulbs (actually a rhizome) are planted in September through January. After the spring flowering season is over and the farm is closed to the public, the flowers are allowed to dry and die, and the bulbs store energy. Then, in midsummer, workers dig up the bulbs to distribute for sale at nurseries and garden centers. Soon after, planting begins for the next life cycle.
So what do you do when visiting the flower fields? Well, just enjoy the beauty of the flowers. A walk through the dirt fields (wear comfortable shoes) on the hillside overlooking the pretty Carlsbad neighborhoods and the Pacific Ocean in the distance is just a pleasant experience. Be sure to bring a camera and take photos of the colorful flowers.
Quick Tips from Carlsbad Flower Fields
What: Carlsbad flower fields
Where: 5704 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad CA
When: Open every day, March 1 to mid-May, from 9 am to 6 pm The fields remain open one hour after the admission doors close.
Cost: $ 14 for adults; $ 13 for people 60 and older; $ 7 for children ages 3-10; free for children under 2 years
Website: www.theflowerfields.com
Directions: Take Interstate 5 to the Palomar Airport Road exit and head east to 5704 Paseo Del Norte. Nearby is Legoland and Carlsbad Premium Outlets is next to the fields. The Carlsbad Flower Fields are about 30 miles north of downtown San Diego.
