Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV
—KPBS Presents Season 7 of A GROWING PASSION With 6 Episodes—
Come along on an armchair tour of Southern California's amazing wildflower "super bloom" of winter 2018/2019. We start, with a day hike through the rolling wilds of Riverside County, accompanied by a scientist who is a California wildflower expert.
We visit Anza Borrego Desert with a local naturalist, explore the fringes of urban Poway, and accompany field biologists monitoring wildflowers and other plants repopulating fire-ravaged Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Everywhere we go, you'll be amazed and delighted by the diversity of annual flowers in explosive bloom. Pinks and, oranges, purples and yellows, blues, golds, and whites blanket the desert floor and show up in patches amidst the chaparral and coastal sage scrub. Their bright blooms shine against the charcoal covered mountains, already showing a fringe of recovery green.
Along the way, we learn how and why big blooms happen, see the pollinators whose presence ensures seeds for the plants' future generations, and learn how to protect the fragile ecosystems while enjoying the beauty of the big blooms.
Watch On Your Schedule: Watch "The Big Bloom" now with KPBS+ a new free streaming video app designed for ease and enjoyment everywhere you watch including Roku, smart TVs and mobile devices. It’s locally curated for San Diego by the KPBS programming team. With a clean and intuitive design, discovering and enjoying KPBS and PBS content on-demand has never been easier.
You can also tune in live to watch our four TV channels in real time: KPBS, KPBS 2, Create, KPBS Kids 24/7. We also added a new channel - FNX (First Nation Experience).
Your KPBS Passport member benefit works on KPBS+ too! You’ll have access to even more great shows when you simply log in with your KPBS Passport account.
About The Series: From earth-friendly and water-wise gardens to organic foods and habitat restoration, San Diegans demand options that protect our health, feed our communities and protect our natural resources. Hosted by Nan Sterman, A GROWING PASSION explores backyard food production, major horticultural growers, low-water landscapes and sustainable practices around the home and in the garden.
