After winter rains - assuming Mother Nature has been generous - California deserts, valleys and mountains burst into bloom. Luckily for urban dwellers, there is a hotline that helps you time visits to big bloom sites nearby. From mid-March until May, the Theodore Payne Foundation wildflower hotline offers weekly updates on what is blooming where, starting with desert wildflowers and ending when wildflowers carpet mountain meadows. Verbal updates are augmented by longer written reports on the foundation's Web site. The hotline number is 818-768-3533; Web site is www.theodorepayne.org.