Opening soon: You’ll feel like you’re in Oz in these magical SoCal flower fields

There’s a big bloom coming to the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch, along with many tiny flutters.

On March 1, the property alongside I-5 opens for its annual springtime seasonal celebration, with color and scent supplied by 55 acres of ranunculus flowers that typically bloom for six to eight weeks.

Dating back to the 1960s, this roadside spectacle has become one of Southern California’s most familiar rites of spring, along with the hunt for wildflowers in the desert and renewed rivalry between Dodgers fans and Padres people.

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Admission to the fields (via timed-entry tickets) is $22 per adult, $20 for military and seniors over 60; $12 for children 3 to 10. Tickets are sold only online, not on-site, and no reentry is allowed.

Besides the ranunculus fields, the ranch’s offerings this spring include:

• A Butterfly Encounter area, which is new this year and carries an additional price tag of $5 per person, children under 3 free.
• Tractor wagon rides around the perimeter of the ranunculus fields, a roughly 15-minute trip. The cost is an additional $8 for adults, $4 for children ages 3 to 10. (Children under 3 are free.) Tickets, which allow for hop-ons and hop-offs, can be purchased on-site (credit and debit cards only).
• A sweet pea maze.
• A playground full of playhouses and giant mushrooms that once were part of Santa’s Village at Lake Arrowhead.

There’s also an American flag made from red, white and blue petunias, 300 feet by 170 feet; a 5-acre “sea of sunflowers”; a sculpture exhibit by artist Alex Heveri portraying birds and insects with glass and steel; greenhouse displays of poinsettias and Cymbidium orchids; and plenty of tacos, pizza, ice cream, shakes, popcorn and other snacks for sale. Visitors can buy ranunculus and other items at an on-site Armstrong Garden Center shop.

The fields will be open daily (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) March 1 through May 11 (Mother’s Day). Ranunculus flowers, grown along the northern San Diego County coast for at least 90 years, are native to Turkey (and are also known as Persian buttercups). Over the years, pioneer Edwin Frazee and other local growers developed 13 colors of the frilly flowers.