Floral Events in San Diego this Spring
Sure, the official start of the new year is January, but as the sun comes out and the flowers bloom, spring feels like a time for fresh starts and new beginnings! What better time to get outside and experience one of the many spring events in San Diego. Pull up your calendars and let’s start planning those bloom-filled activities around the city. And if you’re not from San Diego, there’s plenty of reasons to consider taking the trip out here this spring break.
There's no better time to immerse yourself in the power of flowers through a floral class, a party, or a floral-themed experience. Celebrate the spring season with these floral events in San Diego you won't want to miss.
1. Flower Arranging Workshops at Native Poppy
Monthly throughout 2026
Multiple locations in San Diego, CA
Native Poppy hosts monthly flower arranging workshops where florists teach you how to create a garden-style floral arrangement. These foundational floral design classes cover essential flower arranging techniques while encouraging you to explore how color influences balance, mood, and composition. Each session features a curated seasonal palette, with hands-on guidance on selecting blooms, arranging them thoughtfully, and creating cohesive, beautiful designs. Taking a flower arranging workshop is the move for those interested in floral events in San Diego this season, but if you’re not local to the region, try our online floral design eCourses!
2. Tour the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch
March 1 – May 10, 2026
5704 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Experience the joy of 80 million vibrant, color-blocked rows of ranunculus in bloom at The Flower Fields in Carlsbad. These flower fields are the closest you can get to the Dutch tulip field tours here in California – and you don’t even need to renew your passport. For only two months of the year, the fields of this farm are open to the public while they’re in full bloom – an absolute floral wonderland.
This year, Native Poppy’s florists created an immersive floral photo-op inside a vintage truck on the grounds, perfect for family photos! In previous years, we’ve also had the pleasure of arranging florals for the American Grown “Field to Vase” dinner, hosted amongst the flower fields in 2023. Whether you’re visiting for an afternoon with friends, or heading up early to take a top-tier selfie, the flower fields are such a special place to experience in the spring. Fun fact: Native Poppy’s co-owner, Meg Blancato, had her wedding photos taken here!
3. Cherry Blossom Festival at Japanese Friendship Garden
March 12th - March 15th, 2026
Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
If you're looking for the ultimate spring event in San Diego, this festival is definitely worth checking out. It will feature an exciting lineup of performances, with special guest acts on March 14 and 15. There will be brand-new attractions this year, including a stunning wall of lanterns and a community art installation.
It’s a great event for families, too — the children’s area will be filled with engaging activities throughout the weekend. You can sample a variety of cultural foods, enjoy drinks in the popular beer and sake garden in the lower garden, shop from amazing local vendors in the upper garden, and take a peaceful stroll through the cherry blossom grove.
4. Native Poppy Art Alive Petal Pop-Ups
March 20th, March 27th, April 3rd, and April 10th, 2026
San Diego locations to be announced on Instagram!
Each spring, we partner with the San Diego Museum of Art for Art Alive Petal Pop-Ups, a series of large-scale floral installations placed at surprise locations throughout San Diego in the weeks leading up to the Museum’s annual Art Alive exhibition. Designed as a public preview of the exhibition, our pop-ups bring bold, immersive floral moments into everyday spaces across the city. Locations are announced the day they go live, encouraging the community to follow along, explore, and experience Art Alive beyond the Museum walls. The Petal Pop-Ups are free to visit and open to the public, an accessible way to celebrate creativity, collaboration, and the intersection of art and flowers leading up to one of San Diego’s most anticipated spring events.
5. Local Flower Arranging 101 Workshop + Flower Farm Tour
March 28th and April 18th, 2026
BeeWorthy Farms - 441 Quail Gardens Dr, Encinitas, CA 92024
We have a few dates coming up for our Locally Grown Flower Arranging Workshop and Farm Tour at BeeWorthy Farms! This workshop is always a student favorite, and we love welcoming the flower season by creating wild, beautiful designs together with you. You’ll begin with a guided tour of the flower fields and then learn foundational flower arranging skills using freshly harvested, locally grown blooms. The workshop includes expert instruction, all materials and tools, a take‑home arrangement you design yourself, and a deeper connection to seasonal, farm‑to‑vase floristry.
6. Flower Arranging Workshop + Floral Painting Class
April 11th, 2026
San Diego Museum of Art
Native Poppy in Solana Beach
Flowers become both subject and muse in this collaborative workshop, an evening designed to slow down, notice beauty, and turn it into art. We’ll begin surrounded by seasonal blooms, where you’ll gather stems, play with color, and shape your own petite arrangement. As petals open and textures come together, your design becomes more than a centerpiece, it becomes your inspiration.
The experience starts with a guided Flower Arranging 101 session, where a Native Poppy florist walks you through the foundations of floral design with hands-on support and a curated seasonal palette. Once your arrangement is complete, you’ll shift from arranging to observing, as flower gardener and artist Michaela Jean guides you through translating your blooms into watercolor. Using expressive techniques and gentle instruction, you’ll capture the movement, color, and feeling of your arrangement, leaving with both fresh flowers and a finished piece of art that tells the story of the day.
7. Coronado Flower Show
April 18-19, 2026
Spreckles Park, Coronado
The Coronado Flower Show is one of Southern California’s most beloved spring traditions, first held in 1922 as a way to bring the Coronado community together through the beauty of blooms and horticulture. Today it’s recognized as the largest tented flower show in the United States, featuring stunning floral displays, competitions, educational talks, live entertainment, and more. All set against the picturesque backdrop of Spreckels Park.
Native Poppy was delighted to build a floral photo-op for the 2025 Coronado Flower Show! What floral surprises will you discover this year?
8. Preserving and Protecting Otay Mountains Hidden Flora
April 22nd, 2026
San Diego Botanic Gardens
Venture into the rugged beauty of Otay Mountain Wilderness, where rare and endangered plants cling to steep slopes and exist nowhere else on Earth. This talk follows the conservation work of the San Diego Botanic Garden, sharing how field research, seed collection, and propagation efforts are helping safeguard these fragile species. Led by Conservation Manager Rachel Sadowski, the event offers an inside look at the science, strategy, and hands-on restoration work dedicated to protecting one of our region’s most botanically rich landscapes.
9. Bloom Bash 2026
April 24th, 2026
San Diego Museum of Art - 1450 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
Guests will indulge in amazing cuisine and handcrafted cocktails, explore immersive art experiences and performances, and dance into the night in true Parisian style. Bloom Bash 2026 also offers an exclusive first look at the breathtaking Art Alive floral creations displayed throughout the Museum, each one blooming with Parisian allure.
10. Art Alive 2026
April 23-26, 2026
San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
Art Alive at The San Diego Museum of Art is an annual spring celebration where floral designers create breathtaking arrangements inspired by works from the Museum’s collection, transforming the galleries into an immersive art-and-flowers experience. The event brings together creativity, community, and fresh blooms in one of San Diego’s most beautiful settings. This year a great friend of Native Poppy, Kelsie Olivia, will be designing the rotunda this year and we are so excited to see her work her magic at the event! We know first-hand how much work it takes to create the rotunda installation – Native Poppy’s founder, Natalie Gill, was the featured florist rotunda designer back in 2023.
11. Hand-Tied Flower Arranging + Fabric Floral Impressions Workshop
April 25th, 2026
Native Poppy in Solana Beach
In this hands-on workshop, blooms do double duty, as beautiful wraps and tools for creative expression. You’ll start by learning how to craft a hand-tied floral bundle, discovering how to pair colors, balance form, and wrap your bouquet with intention under the guidance of a Native Poppy florist.
Once your wrap is in hand, the next chapter begins: floral fabric impressions with Botanical Spells. Using fresh flowers and simple tools, you’ll gently tap petals and leaves onto cloth, letting their natural dyes and shapes leave unique marks. By the end of the evening, you’ll walk away with your hand-tied creation and two one-of-a-kind floral-printed fabric napkins, beautiful reminders of a night spent making with your hands and your eyes wide open to nature’s subtle artistry.
Whether you’re a florist, or a lover of floral magic, you won’t want to miss out on these floral events in San Diego! We’ll be celebrating spring at several of these events; if you see us, come say hi and celebrate the magic of flowers! We can’t wait to gather, create, and be inspired alongside you. 🌸
