Image 1: The Valley of the Moon in the Atacama Desert, Chile. (Photo credit: iStock/Eduardo Cabanas)
Welcome back! Let us begin our 4-week-long binge on wildflowers with a journey into the Atacama desert. Wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean, this region is the driest non-polar desert on Earth. The Atacama desert receives less than 0.2 inches of rain each year; parts of it have never received rain in recorded human history! In fact, this region is so dry that recent farming efforts have focused on harnessing water droplets from fog to grow hydroponic lettuce. In this bone-dry, barren landscape, even a single inch of rainfall represents several years’ worth of rain and can trigger flash flooding.
Every 3-10 years though, during springtime in the Southern Hemisphere, something magical happens. With the right mix of rainfall and temperature, the Martian landscape of the Atacama desert is transformed into Desierto Florido (the “flowering desert”). Dormant seeds of more than 200 species of wildflowers sprout to life, covering the arid desert in shades of pink, purple, yellow, blue and white.
Image 2: Desierto Florido (Photo credit: iStock/abriendomundo)
Many of these plants are endemic to the Atacama and do not grow anywhere else in the world. Our week at the Atacama desert will offer a peek into seven floral beauties that bloom during Desierto Florido. We have a reason to harp incessantly about this rare phenomenon – Desierto Florido 2025 is currently on! With the Atacama in bloom, let us spend this week looking at the flowers which transform this barren desert into a haven for flower lovers like us.
Let the Atacama wildflower week begin!