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Available Reviews
Topanga Canyon State Park Stunt Ranch |
Date of Review
1/27. 1/19. |
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A quick note to let people know I have moved out of the Santa Monica Mountains. This will make it difficult for me to include my customary ramblings here at the top of the newsletter. I have also been one of the significant contributers of the individual flower reports. Hopefully other people can step forward and fill the gap by sending in their flower observations. More than ever I will enjoy reading the reports people submit, especially as when I now look out my windows I see snow rather than flowers ;)
It is still very early in the 2015 flower season and with the dramatic exception of the shrub Ceanothus and some of the weedier things it is unlikely to see much in the way of flowers yet. Keep that in mind there are plants that bloom year round if conditions are right. Maybe this is the year you might try to see those things that bloom only in the early part of the season. Finally, the drama of mudslides overshadow the fact that although the SMM have received some rain the effects of the drought of the last few years are far from over. Keep your fingers crossed that we get that needed rain! ‑ ed. |
| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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1/27/15 |
| After our little bit of rain the mountainsides are blooming with honey scented white blossoms of big pod ceanothus. I hiked The Musch Trail and it was everywhere. When there was a breeze there was a "snowfall" of white blossoms. Additionally the manzanita are in bloom with bell shaped flowers and wild cucumber is really getting going. There is an occasional splash of color from purple nightshade. I returned on the fire road where there were California everlasting and telegraph weed blooming alongside the road. So there was not a great variety of plants in bloom but the quantity of the blooming ceanothus make getting your boots muddy well worth it. ‑ Dorothy Steinicke | ||
| Stunt Ranch |
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1/19/15 |
| The milkmaids are out alongside the creek. I always think of them as the first harbingers of spring. Even more impressive were the many varieties of mushrooms and other fungus in evidence. I wish I knew them better. There was also a fair amount of wild cucumber. Venturing up into the chaparral the big pod ceanothus are just starting to bloom. There were also chaparral currant, both the usual pink flowered ones and also the white flowered ones that I only know from this trail. We saw a single blooming bush poppy. ‑ Dorothy Steinicke | ||
Contact Information:
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Santa Monica Mountains NRA 401 West Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 805-370-2301 www.nps.gov/samo |
If you would like to contribute a wildflower report you can e-mail the editor at: Tony[underscore]Valois@nps.gov |
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What's Blooming
on the web at
www.smmflowers.org/whatsblooming
or go to
www.nps.gov/samo
click on "Things to Do"
and "Look for Wildflowers"
