|
Page Revised: 11/19/09 |
|
|
Available Site Reviews Circle X Ranch Rancho Sierra Vista |
Date of Reviews 11/19 & 11/11. 11/6. |
|
Photo highlights from the
flower reports: What's
Blooming Now Photos of over six hundred
species: Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains What's Blooming flower
reports Archive The
Calendar of Events for the Santa Monica Mountains NRA Outdoors |
|
|
It's been quite a while since I've updated
this web page largely because in the summer people stop sending me flower
reports. I continue to run into scattered flowers all summer long but nothing
compared to the grand displays we see in the springtime. Consequently I begin
to get excited when the first flowers of the new year make their appearance.
Almost everything we see beginning to bloom this time of year is a perennial
shrub or tree (although there are a few herbaceous perennials that also make
a quick appearance.) That typically
means keeping your head up and looking about you well above the ground. I’ve made several changes to
the layout of the Wildflower website lately and one
of them is a new search called What’s
Blooming Now. I will try to keep
this up to date with the highlights of the flower sightings people have
reported here. As always, if you have any comments
or questions, or wish to file a flower report, you can email me at address at
the bottom of this page. – ed. |
|
|
|
Circle X Ranch |
Grotto
Trail |
Date: 11/19 |
|
|
|
After our hike to Sandstone Peak a week
ago we were hoping for some nice spring flowers on this trail as well (I
usually expect the Grotto trail to perform better than the Sandstone Peak
trail.) While there were a lot of
green plants sprouting up there was very little in flower, mostly just a few
holdouts from last season: a few California fuchsia, some sagebrush, coyote
bush, and some woolly aster. Up closer to the campground we also saw a single
white nightshade, a few telegraph weed, some twiggy wreath plants, mule fat
and the usual perennial weeds like Mediterranean mustard, but nothing to make
a special trip for. It’s still way too soon for most of our trails to
show much activity. On the other hand the trail was in good condition,
sprouting greenery and budding plants everywhere, the sycamores and
cottonwoods in their fall colors, the air cool and clear with the scent of
growing things, and the quiet stillness of nobody else in sight. We had a
very refreshing walk. – ed. |
|||
|
Circle X Ranch |
Sandstone
Peak Trail |
Date:
11/11 |
|
|
|
We made a trip to the top of
Sandstone Peak, mostly to replace the log book but also to see if the
chaparral current was out. I’d
been seeing a few along the edge of the road that were almost blooming and it
seemed likely we’d find some on that trail. We were not disappointed. The day was pleasantly cool and quite clear
and so it was no surprise that there were quite a few people out enjoying the
holiday. The trail was in good shape
but its steepness and the always present loose rocks suggest good footwear
(this trail winding it’s way to the top of the highest peak in the
Santa Monica Mountains is not a sidewalk in central park!) Perhaps the biggest surprise was that quite
a few of the bigpod ceanothus were starting to bloom. We also found our chaparral current and
some bigberry manzanita both showing their new flowers, and a few California
buckwheat with new blossoms among the rusty heads from last year. At a number of different places we saw the
new growth of several different ferns. Nothing spectacular yet but enough to
tell us that spring is coming. Other flower sightings were mostly sparse
leftovers from last year and included a couple of nice bush senecio,
sagebrush, some California fuchsia, cliff aster, a few sad looking sawtooth
goldenbush, and quite a few woolly asters still holding on. All told much better than I expected. A modest but promising start to the new
blooming season. – ed. |
|||
|
Rancho Sierra Vista /
Point Mugu State Park |
Satwiwa Loop Trail to the Old Boney Trail |
Date: 11/6 |
|
|
|
Bush senecio, narrow-leaved milkweed,
coyote bush, California fuchsia, California sage brush, white nightshade, and
silktassel bush. – Fred
Nuesca. |
|||
|
|
|
|
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West
Hillcrest Drive 805-370-2301 www.nps.gov/samo |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone
Tony at 310-457-6408 |
|
What’s Blooming on the web at www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom
|
|
