Page Revised: 03/18/10
Available Site Reviews Circle X Ranch Leo Carrillo State Beach Solstice Canyon Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa Cheeseboro / Palo Comado Arroyo Sequit Scenic Drives in SAMO Malibu Creek State Park Cold Creek Preserve Triunfo Canyon Park Rancho Sierra Vista Red Rock Canyon State Park Leo Carrillo State Beach	Date of Reviews 3/18 & 3/13 & 3/11& 3/5 & 3/1 2/17. 3/14. 3/14. 3/13. 3/10 & 2/13. 3/7. 3/1. 2/25 & 2/22. 2/21. 2/21. 2/14. 2/11. 2/8.
Quick Links What's Blooming Now - Photo highlights of the current flower reports. Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains - Photos of over 700 species. Archive - Previous “What's Blooming” reports. Outdoors - The Calendar of Events for the Santa Monica Mountains NRA.

Sorry for the delay getting this out. We have been experiencing technical difficulties with our web server. For the same reason I have been unable to update the “What’s Blooming Now” web page.

The warm weather we’ve been getting this week is having a big effect on the wildflowers. I sampled a number of locations this and things are ramping up quickly. Several sites are entering the beginning of their peak bloom. Now would be a good time to check out your favorite trail. For the Ceanothus lovers in the crowd I should mention both of the common blue ceanothus are peaking up here at CXR (and elsewhere.) A couple of the white flowered species are thick in some locations. The shooting stars up here at CXR have greatly diminished over the last week. There are still a few good pockets but the large fields of thousands of plants are mostly in fruit now. Elsewhere closer to the valley I found very few shooting stars still blooming even in the sheltered pockets where we might expect to find some hanging on. Another favorite that people are seeing are the chocolate lilies.

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. BTW, this list may include more flowers than are reported on below since I generally will include anything I’ve run across lately even if I felt it was not worth creating a full report about it.

As always, if you want to contact me or submit a flower report my address is at the at the bottom of this page.

See you on the trails.

– ed.

Circle X Ranch		Grotto Trail	Date: 3/18
	On a sunny and warm morning a group of us hiked down to the Grotto. Several of us got our feet wet at the different stream crossings (mostly because we were laughing and having a good time.) The waterfalls are still doing nicely and their sound mingled nicely with the many different bird songs. We encountered the California newt both on land and in the pools close to the Grotto. They were unusually lively as it is currently mating season. At several places we were impressed with at the displays of the pale blue greenbark ceanothus. Other flowering highlights included fiddleneck, both purple and white nightshade, canyon sunflower, black sage, crimson pitcher sage, silver puff, eucrypta, a couple different popcorn flowers, a few chinese houses (with many more showing buds,) blue larkspur, California saxifrage, bush monkey flower, blue dicks, morning glory, golden yarrow, deerweed, miners lettuce, blue eyed grass, wild sweet pea, wishbone bush, and hedge nettle. Altogether we saw over forty species in bloom. A pretty good display. – ed.

Leo Carrillo State Beach		Nicholas Flat to Willow Creek Loop	Date: 3/14
	This 2-mile trail is nearing peak bloom, with 40+ species along the way and a “Good” rating – which should stay that way for a few weeks. The most profuse were CA poppy (2 species), Parry’s phacelia, popcorn sp, chia, wishbone bush, and coast paintbrush. Other notables were globe gilia, Indian pink, stinging and Coulter’s lupine, scarlet bugler, locoweed, oxalis, bladderpod, mustard evening primrose, and rattlesnake weed. This trail is also one of the best for native grasses, and many species are now going to seed (nearly upstaging the wildflowers), including: two needle grasses (Nassella pulchra and Achnatherum coronatum), oniongrass (Melica imperfecta), and cane bluestem (Bothriochloa barbinodis). Join a state park ranger and myself for a public walk on Sat 3/20 at 10am – should be “good” or better. – Jack Gillooly.

Solstice Canyon		TRW Loop Trail	Date: 3/14
	Post-fire wildflowers, in their 3rd season after the Corral Fire, are still amazing on this 1.5 mile trail – earning it an “Excellent” rating. Most profuse are canyon sunflower (along Solstice Creek) and bush sunflower (on the hillsides), with tons of caterpillar phacelia, sticky phacelia, and coastal lotus – both trailside and covering the hillsides. Another 20 or so species include blue dicks, annual bedstraw, beggar ticks, eucrypta, chia, and hedge nettle. Purple nightshade was especially deep and rich in color, perhaps owing to the extra nutrients in the soil (and that great “watering can in the sky”). With a rushing creek down below, this spot is definitely worth a visit. – Jack Gillooly.

Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa		Satwiwa Loop to Waterfall (Upper Sycamore)	Date: 3/13
	Flowers are doing well on this 3-mile walk-around, but still a bit shy of peak. Among the 30 species seen were wild sweet pea, blackberry, bush sunflower, purple nightshade, Parry’s phacelia, meadow rue, shooting stars, virgin’s bower, 2 CA poppies, fiesta flower, and lots of wishbone bush (on descent into canyon). So far, the area is “Fair” to middling for the season, but give it some warm weather and a late shower, and it should progress to “Good” or better. (Note: The upper creek and waterfall are running well, and you’ll see many extra wildflower species along the whole Upper Sycamore stretch – from the creek intersect on Old Boney Trail, to the paved road.) – Jack Gillooly.

Triunfo Creek Park		Westlake Vista Trail	Date: 3/13
	On March 13, 2010 I hiked in Triunfo Creek Park, on the Westlake Vista Trail and saw the following flowers blooming: Woolly Blue Curls, Fuschia Flowered Gooseberry, Owl's Clover, Popcorn Flower, Ground Pink, Johnny Jump Ups, Red Stem Filaree, Coast Goldfields, Purple Larkspur, California Poppies, Pineapple Weed, Woolly Lomatium, Lace pod, Shooting Stars, Greenbark Ceanothus, Bigpod Ceanothus. – Stacey Best.

Circle X Ranch		Backbone Trail	Date: 3/13
	Today’s hikes were the third and fourth legs of the NPS sponsored Backbone Trail hikes in the 2010 series. This report is on the fourth leg (the report on the morning hike is below). We are hiking west to east every two weeks. The weather was broken overcast and cool, perfect for hiking and visuals. Due to recent rains we had to combine the third and fourth legs into one day. The morning was spent on the third, Yerba Buena, leg. The afternoon was the fourth, Encinal to Etz Meloy, leg. This is our only “in and out” leg though we are eternally optimistic that continued attempts to purchase the one private property will succeed and it will be a continuous trail. This afternoon forty four native species were observed in bloom. Wild cucumber has casually engulfed all of the trails this year. It is the first species one should expect to encounter and it was for us. We then enjoyed some surprises: wooly blue curl, indian warrior, slender sunflower, rock rose, and star lily. Familiar species in various bloom phases included: elderberry, chaparral currant, golden yarrow, purple nightshade, canyon sunflower, greenbark and big pod ceanothus, four o’clock, redberry, deer weed and strigose lotuses, stinging and Coulter’s lupines, mustard evening and suncup primroses, prickly phlox, eucrypta, lomatium(s), and everlasting(s). Our first blue eyed grass of the season accompanied blue dicks while in other locations there were wonderful displays of Parry’s phacelia. These are just some of the species we saw and in the future one should look forward to a very good showing of bleeding hearts. The disturbance made while constructing this trail just a few years ago is similar to a wildfire. Bleeding heats and other fire-followers are free of their chaparral canopy and spring back to life only to be re-entombed in a few of years. – Ralph Waycott.

Circle X Ranch		Backbone Trail	Date: 3/13
	Today’s hikes were the third and fourth legs of the NPS sponsored Backbone Trail hikes in the 2010 series. This report is on the third leg (the report on the afternoon hike is above). We are hiking west to east every two weeks. This four mile section of the Backbone trail begins at the Mishe Mokwa trailhead and then ends at mile marker 9.1 on Yerba Buena Road. Unless you arrange a shuttle you will have to either retrace your footsteps or walk back on the road. I frequently use the road on weekdays but on the busy weekends the lack of a good place to walk along the shoulder can make that a bit hazardous. This section is still fairly new and consequently has a good number of disturbance loving flowers along it (although some have faded into the background over the half-dozen years since it opened.) While this is not a ridgeline trail it provides good vistas in several directions. The section closest to the Mishe Mokwa trailhead is the best for flowers and I frequently do just the first mile or so out to the saddle separating the northwestern section from the southeastern section. Flowering highlights include three different species of ceanothus, both purple and white nightshades, wild cucumber, some early black sage, popcorn flowers, several different lupines (also watch for them on Yerba Buena driving to the trailhead) morning glory, deerweed and some of its smaller cousins, bush monkey flower, a couple of different sunflowers, golden yarrow, wishbone bush, blue dicks, a couple of different evening primroses, a few early wooly blue curls, prickly phlox, miners lettuce, lace pod, creek monkey flower, dense stands of shooting stars, woodland stars, coast goldfields, and even a couple of chocolate lilies. All told over forty species in bloom. – ed.

Circle X Ranch		Sandstone Peak Trail	Date: 3/11
	What this trail lacks in flowers it more than makes up for in sweeping vistas of the ocean and the valley. When the hairy leaved ceanothus is blooming it can be quite good for flowers as well. Flowering highlights included some very nice displays of hairy leaved ceanothus, deerweed, popcorn flower, golden yarrow, blue dicks, a few black sage, fiddleneck, wooly blue curls, purple nightshade, both bigberry and Eastwood manzanita, California saxifrage, and prickly phlox.. – ed.

Palo Comado / Cheeseboro		Date: 3/10
	Palo Comado (In Cheeseboro). Red Stem Filaree, Prickly Phlox, Fiddleneck (especially closer to China Flats), Popcorn Flower, Common Sunflower, Monkey Flower (just blooming in places), Miner's lettuce, and one grouping of Parry's Phacelia. The Yerba Santa had buds. – Stacey Best.

Arroyo Sequit		Date: 3/7
	Took a nice hike in Arroyo Sequit yesterday, March 7. I only went halfway and back, starting in the grassy area going counter-clockwise, but saw the following plants in bloom: Parry's Phacelia; Indian Warrior; Purple Nightshade; one or two Blue Eyed Grass in the grassy field at the entrance; and Peonies. Beware of a fork in the trail. There is a sign the says End of nature trail at the fork. We went to the right and ended up on a fire road. Not the way to go. My suggestion is to take the hike clockwise. Another couple found this very simple to follow -- no fork problem. Who knows what's in bloom on the second half of the trail. I was pleasantly surprised on the first half. – Bob Moncrief.

Circle X Ranch		Mishe Mokwa Trail	Date: 3/5
	We hiked out to split rock and back thinking that this section of the trail would have the most flowers. In particular we wanted to check on the chocolate lilies since people have been seeing them elsewhere. Still not very many flowers in evidence, certainly less than we saw on the Canyon View Trail a few days earlier. Including those plants lightly represented by just a few individuals we counted about thirty species in bloom. We actually saw more species and better displays along Yerba Buena Rd on the way up to the trailhead. The best thing we saw was a pretty good display of hairy-leaved ceanothus (the deep-blue "California lilac") on a couple of sections of the trail. There were chocolate lilies, but only a few. There are a large number of plants visible but most have yet to begin blooming. Nearby the trailhead we saw a couple of dense stands of shooting stars. It might be well worthwhile to do at least a portion of the backbone trail going east from the Mishe Mokwa parking lot. There was some mud on the trail but nothing too deep. Highlights include Hairy-leaved ceanothus, a few chocolate lilies, a few shooting stars on the trail but many in open stands near the trailhead, deerweed, a couple of woolly blue curls, blue dicks, a localized population of small-flowered evening primrose, several wild sweet pea, a few early blue larkspur, california saxifrage, a couple of different popcorn flowers, only a few chaparral current since most are in fruit now, california peony, turkey pea, and one Parry's phacelia. We still need more warm weather before these sheltered trails are going to do much. – ed.

SAMO Scenic Drives		Date: 3/1
	Scenic driving through the mountains: The pale white blossoms that seem to frost the big pod ceanothus shrubs at all elevations are fading. More and more pale blue spikes of greenbark ceanothus are flowering and especially at the higher elevations, you’ll see the blue violet blossoms of hairy-leaved ceanothus. Goldfields cover the meadow by the main parking lot at Paramount Ranch. Canyon sunflowers (yellow petals, yellow centers) in shady places are everywhere along with lots more bush sunflowers (yellow petals, brown centers), especially on PCH. The yellow coreopsis daisy bouquets are all along PCH and especially striking in the Pt. Mugu State Park area. Lupines (shades of magenta, blue and purple) are popping up here and there (especially at Circle X). Scenic drives everywhere are progressing nicely. – Sheila Braden.

Circle X Ranch		Canyon View Trail	Date: 3/1
	This trail is often one of the best early trails at CXR because it possesses sheltered south-facing slopes passing through several different ecosystems. Of the sixty or so different flowers I saw many are nowhere near full bloom yet and just represented by scattered individuals. When doing this trail I always make a quick detour and cross the creek to look at the mossy north-facing rocky slope near the waterfalls on the Grotto Trail. It’s always worth the couple hundred yards spent to see some additional flowers and get a good view of the waterfalls (now almost completely exposed by the leafless sycamores) Highlights include popcorn flower, both greenbark and hairy-leaved ceanothus (although most of the hairy-leaved is at higher elevations,) a couple of mostly faded bigpod ceanothus, blue dicks, fiddleneck, both white and purple nightshades, globe gilia, California buckwheat, a couple of different lupines, bush monkey flower, a couple of different sunflowers, a couple of different evening primroses, two different everlastings, wild cucumber – many now with large spiny fruits showing, lace pod, some hold-out cudweed aster, a few of our different celeries, wishbone bush, a few shooting stars (but you have to look carefully to find them – again, look higher up to find the big dramatic fields full of these,) golden yarrow, skullcap, owl’s clover, California peony, Parry’s phacelia, a couple of different small lotuses as well as the shrubby deerweed (which is also a lotus,) holly-leaved cherry, and finally, the bedstraws with their tiny yellow-green flowers. If you are interest in small green flowers you could pay attention to some of our trees and shrubs, many of which are in bloom now. By the way, this is the best time of year to visit Sandstone Peak if you want to see the islands. I’ve seen the distant San Nicolas and even San Clemente a number of times recently. – ed.

Malibu Creek State Park		Backbone Trail	Date: 2/25
	Spring has sprung, at least along the Mesa Peak Motorway section of the Backbone Trail. You won't see carpets of wildflowers; but from the Malibu Canyon Rd. trailhead up to the ridgeline, there were well over 50 different species in bloom. Among them: 5 kinds of Lupine, 2 Ceanothus, Milk Maids, Hummingbird Sage, Wild Sweet Pea, Prickly Phlox, and the uncommon non-native Corn Spurry (Spergula arvensis). – Jay Sullivan.

Malibu Creek State Park		Grasslands Trail / Crags Road	Date: 2/22
	[Shiny] Peppergrass, Blue dicks, Bur clover, California Maiden-hair fern, Canyon sunflower, Chickweed, Coastal wood fern [California wood fern], Common groundsel, Fiddleneck (Common), Ceanothus, (Hairy-leaved ceanothus?), Henbit, London rocket, Lupines (not identified), Milkmaids, Miner's lettuce, Periwinkle, Poison hemlock, Purple nightshade, Red stemmed filaree, Shepherd's purse, Southern tauschia, Wild radish (white,yellow), Wild sweet pea – Sarah Dickey.

Cold Creek Preserve		Stunt High Trail	Date: 2/21
	Baby blue eyes, Bicolored everlasting [Two-toned everlasting], Blue dicks, California lace fern, California Maiden-hair fern, California polypody, Canyon sunflower, Coastal wood fern [California wood fern], Coffee fern, Fiddleneck (Common), Goldback fern, Ceanothus, (Greenbark and Hoary leaved ?), Lupines (variety not ID'd), Milkmaids, Miner's lettuce, Popcorn Flower (variant not ID'd), Purple nightshade, Shepherd's purse, Wild cucumber, Wild sweet pea. – Sarah Dickey.

Triunfo Canyon Park		Pentachaeta Trail	Date: 2/21
	Ground Pink, White Thorn, Bigpod Ceanothus, Prickly Phlox, Miner’s Lettuce, Indian Warrior, Wild Cucumber, Blue Larkspur, Popcorn Flower, Shooting Stars, Peony, Gold Fields, Fuchsia Flowered Gooseberry, Woolly Blue Curls, Lace Pod, and Blue Dicks – Fred Nuesca.

Circle X Ranch		Grotto Trail	Date: 2/17
	Still not too much to get excited about, although I do have a soft spot for the native larkspurs. The meager highlights include wild cucumber, deerweed, both greenbark and bigpod ceanothus, both white and purple nightshade, blue larkspur, and wild sweet pea. BTW, the high water levels make for dramatic waterfalls but also difficult stream crossings. If you want to get all the way to the Grotto you may have to get wet feet or do some substantial rock climbing. – ed.

Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa		Misc. trails	Date: 2/14
	Spring blooms starting at various locations at Rancho Sierra Vista: Purple nightshade, hummingbird sage, bigpod ceanothus, Manzanita, fuschia-flowered gooseberry, bladder pod, bush sunflower, filaree, shooting star, chocolate lily, deerweed, fiddleneck, – As reported to the rangers by visitors.

Cheeseboro Canyon		Cheeseboro Canyon Trail	Date: 2/13
	Bicolored everlasting [Two-toned everlasting], Black sage, Blue dicks, California Blackberry, California buckwheat, California peony, California Prickly phlox, Caterpillar phacelia [Phacelia cicutaria var hubbyi ], Cliff aster [White Aster], Common groundsel, Fiddleneck (Common), Golden yarrow, Ceanothus, (Hoary leaved ?), Lupines (variety not identified), [Shiny] Peppergrass, Popcorn Flower (variant not identified), Purple nightshade [Solanum xanti], Red stemmed filaree, Redmaids, Scarlet bugler, Shepherd's purse, Snake Root, White chaparral currant, White sweet clover, Wild cucumber, Wishbone plant [Wishbone bush] – Sarah Dickey.

Red Rock Canyon State Park		Calabasas Peak Motorway	Date: 2/11
	Calabasas Peak Motorway - Red Rock [fire] Rd. Mustard (Mediterranean?); Cliff aster [White Aster]; Crimson Pitcher Sage [Hummingbird sage]; Dwarf chaparral broom [coyote brush]; Purple nightshade; Red-stemmed filaree; White chaparral currant; Wild cucumber; Wild sweet pea; California peony; Canyon dodder; Downy indian paintbrush; Mule fat; California Prickly phlox; Slender sunflower; Southern tauschia; Sweet alyssum; Popcorn Flower (variety ?); Wishbone plant [Wishbone bush]; Woolly indian paintbrush – Sarah Dickey.

Leo Carrillo State Beach		Nicholas Flat to Willow Creek Loop	Date: 2/8
	On a fresh, crisp day after a light rain, this 2-mile trail looked like a groomed botanic garden – but the blooms were just getting started on the 30 species seen. Notable were Parry’s phacelia, wishbone bush, chia sage, scarlet bugler, Indian pink, coastal paintbrush, redberry, and locoweed. The only lupine – in an area with many varieties – was Coulter’s lupine, with just a few flowers seen. The cool and rainy weather has set the stage, but the show is still waiting in the wings – give it a few weeks and you’ll double the variety. The trail provides good elevation gain with varied slopes and micro-habitats. Especially interesting are patches of native bunch grass among the taller sage-scrub, providing a nice contrast of structure and species. – Jack Gillooly.

Contact Information: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 805-370-2301 www.nps.gov/samo	If you would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: Tony_Valois@partner.nps.gov or phone Tony at 310-457-6408
What’s Blooming on the web at www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom or go to www.nps.gov/samo and click on “What’s Blooming”