When does blue dicks bloom in Arizona?

Most often in March. Across 853 dated, research-grade observations of Dichelostemma capitatum in Arizona, the flowering season runs roughly February to May.

Peak March In flower 853 Examined 900 State Arizona

Flowering 853 in flower of 900 examined

73%

93%

98%

95%

81%

40%

Proportion of examined Dichelostemma capitatum in Arizona in flower, by month
Month	In flower	Examined	Share	95% interval
Jan	16	22	73%	52% to 87%
Feb	158	170	93%	88% to 96%
Mar	484	493	98%	97% to 99%
Apr	180	189	95%	91% to 97%
May	13	16	81%	57% to 93%
Jun	0	2	too few examined
Jul	0	0	too few examined
Aug	0	0	too few examined
Sep	0	0	too few examined
Oct	0	0	too few examined
Nov	0	3	too few examined
Dec	2	5	40%	12% to 77%

Peak flowering in Mar. Each bar is the share of Dichelostemma capitatum in Arizona observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 853 of 900 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 6 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.wt38fd.

What this is, and what it is not

This is a record of when people in Arizona found Dichelostemma capitatum in flower, not a forecast. It is computed only from observations made in Arizona, so it is not the species’ global average dragged onto a map: the same plant flowers on different dates in different places, and that is the entire point of the page.

It will not tell you what your particular plant will do this year. Bloom time moves with the season, with altitude, and with the weather, and a warm February pulls everything forward. We publish the distribution and the sample size, and we refuse to draw a month that too few people examined.

The plant

Dichelostemma capitatum

blue dicks

Sourcesevery claim on this page

GBIF (iNaturalist Research-grade Observations). Dated flowering annotations in Arizona. Every record achieved iNaturalist quality grade Research, which is applied upstream at export. 10.15468/dl.wt38fd. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
World Flora Online Plant List. The accepted name. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.