Page Revised: 05/03/2011
Available Site Reviews Circle X Ranch Paramount Ranch Wildwood park Castro Crest Oakbrook Regional Park Cold Creek Canyon Malibu Creek State Park Palo Comado Canyon	Date of Reviews 05/02 & 04/21 & 04/04 & 03/30 & 03/19. 04/29. 04/26. 04/23. 04/19. 04/19. 04/15 & 04/09. 04/13.
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We had a great start this year with many of our winter flowers appearing as early as December. The warm, dry weather we had early in the season made for pleasant hiking but shortened the season for many of our flowers. I can’t remember a shorter ceanothus bloom up here at Circle X Ranch. In addition, that long early-winter dry spell was very hard on a lot of the plants. Many of the typical annual species are pretty scarce. I’ve heard many comments like “... but we’ve had so much rain!” I must remind people that plants are living organisms and as such not very interested in high “average” quantity, but much more dependent on consistency, and we’ve had very little of that this year. Lately things have been very lush with many of the perennials looking quite good but this remains about the worst year I’ve ever seen for some of the annuals. On the other hand most of them can still be found if you are willing to look, just not in the dramatic eye-popping displays of some of the recent past. On another note, we’ve just been beginning to encounter some of the “later” season flowers. One that is always symbolic to me was my first encounter of “Farewell-to-Spring” about a week ago.

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

– ed.

Circle X Ranch		Grotto Trail	Date: 05/02/2011
	There is still a lot of water in the creek and newts cavorting which makes this hike especially nice. There is black sage, canyon sunflower, blue dicks, blooming sugar bush, sticky monkey flower and purple nightshade. Past the second creek crossing there is a rock wall with water seeping down it. It is completely covered in masses of creek monkey flowers with a gathering of Chinese houses, Santa Monica Mountain dudleya and willow herb clarkia below it. Really lovely. The trail up to the meadow has popcorn flower, deer weed, caterpillar phacelia, wild morning glory, California chicory and woolly blue curls. The meadow is carpeted with Catalina mariposa lilies and spring vetch. Continuing down through the chaparral there are star lilies, flowering yucca, golden yarrow, chamise, hedge nettle, blue eyed grass and hummingbird sage. Look for more newts in the creek below.  – Dorothy Steinicke

Circle X Ranch		Canyon View Trail	Date: 05/02/2011
	This trail does not have the lovely accompaniment of a nearby stream, but as the name suggests, there are wonderful views. The beginning of the trail (branching off from the Grotto Trail) is nearly carpeted with yellow monkey flowers. There are twining snapdragons, black sage, California buckwheat, chamise, blooming yucca, wild morning glory, blue dicks as well as purple clarkia, elegant clarkia, globe gilia caterpillar phacelia and gorgeous Perry’s phacelia. There are some collarless poppies and blooming sugar bush as well as star lilies and butterfly mariposas. We walked as far as the creek filled with step pools and lined with blooming red skinned onions, creek monkey flower and speedwell. A lovely spot.  – Dorothy Steinicke

Paramount Ranch		Misc. Trails	Date: 04/29/2011
	Leaving the Western Town area I took the Coyote Trail and then wound around to the northwest and returned by way of an informal trail through the grassland. In less than two miles I saw spring vetch, blue dicks, purple nightshade, golden yarrow, elegant clarkia (early), wishbone flower (late), elder flower, chia and chamise in bloom. There was owl's clover, flowering yucca, caterpillar phacelia and woolly blue curls. In the deep shade there were Chinese houses, fiesta flowers, hummingbird sage, prickly phlox, sugar bush and cinquefoil. In the grassland there were a lot of California poppies.  – Dorothy Steinicke

Wildwood Park		Misc. Trails	Date: 04/26/2011
	We started at the main trailhead on Arboles and headed west, then down to the creek, continuing west along the creek to the falls, the picnic areas, and the treatment plant, and then north up the switchbacks to lizard rock. From there you have a magnificent vista including the lovely broad open valley looking back east to where you can see your car sitting in the distance. The only annuals that seem to be doing well are the weedy one's I'll not mention by name here. It was a lovely hike on a lovely afternoon, but of the about thirty species found in bloom there was not much to write home about. Some of the highlights include purple sage, blue dicks, Several Catalina mariposa lilies scattered in the grassy fields, chamise, California wild rose, California buckwheat, Turkish rugging, black sage, yucca, rattlesnake weed (the low prostrate one) caterpillar phacelia, chia, bush mallow, morning glory, golden yarrow, popcorn flower, wishbone bush, sugar bush, California blackberry, purple nightshade, and scarlet pimpernel. As you can see I gave up and added some of the weeds to this list just to make it a bit longer. – ed.

Castro Crest Area		Backbone Trail	Date: 04/23/2011
	This is becoming one of my very favorite places to hike. There are amazing views from the parking lot. Standing at the trailhead you can see golden yarrow, deer weed, woolly blue curls, black sage, chamise and wild morning glory in bloom. Descending through the chaparral there is blooming California everlasting, purple nightshade, chaparral current, sticky monkey flower and popcorn flowers. Entering the wooded canyon bottom you cross and recross little streams. I counted fourteen water crossings in all. In that wooded shade there are milkmaids, miner's lettuce, sweet pea, fiesta flowers, johnny jump ups, fuchsia flowering gooseberry and canyon sunflowers. Rising up again through the chaparral there are California poppies and blue dicks. Walk as far as you like and return as you came.  – Dorothy Steinicke

Circle X Ranch		Backbone Trail	Date: 04/21/2011
	This section of the backbone trail from the parking lot at the Mishe Mokwa Trailhead out to the south side of Triunfo Peak overlooking the ocean and then back is one of my favorites. It has a good variety of habitats and many sheltered nooks and crannies which can harbor shy flowers. For this time of year it is probably one of the best flower producers at Circle X Ranch. The flowering highlights included bush mallow, golden yarrow, bush sunflower, a couple of the little native clovers, red-skinned onion, lance-leaved dudleya, bush lupine, chia, chinese houses, a couple of chocolate lilies still holding on, a few woodland star, blue larkspur, sticky cinquefoil, a single farewell-to-spring, elderberry, Parry's phacelia, yellow monkey flower, holly-leaved cherry, fiesta flower, miner's lettuce, hedge nettle, wild cucumber, sugar bush, morning glory, california everlasting, purple nightshade, popcorn flower, caterpillar phacelia, bush monkey flower, black sage, tarweed, silver puffs, brown microseris, virgin's bower, Chinese houses, woodland star, a couple of the little wooly-heads, deerweed plus a couple of it’s small lotus cousins as well, ceanothus megacarpus in a spare second-bloom, rock rose, Eastwood manzanita, chamise, prickly phlox, buckwheat, woolly blue curls, blue dicks, Douglas sandwort, and the common fiddleneck. All told well over seventy different species in bloom but most only in modest to low numbers. Still, a pretty darn good showing in an off-year.  – ed.

Oakbrook Regional Park		Hidden Meadow Trail	Date: 04/19/2011
	The trailhead is located at the end of Falling Star Ave. which is off of Kanan Rd.  Go all the way to the end of the Cul de sac.  The trail is on the right side of the street.  We started out thinking there wouldn't be much to see.  However, we were mistaken.  We went at 4:00 in the afternoon, which was a perfect time as the sun was low, the shadows abundant, and a gentle breeze.  Chemise and black sage were blooming along the whole trail.  The scent of black sage was delightful.  We also saw these plants in bloom: bush sunflower, sugar bush, California buckwheat, prickly phlox, morning glory, black mustard, prickly poppy ( just one on the left hand side), purple nightshade, sticky monkey flower, hoary leaf ceanothus, two tone everlasting, popcorn flower, lupine, wooly blue curls, deer weed, wishbone, nolina, strigose lotus, cobweb thistle, horehound, caterpillar phacelia, hairy leaf ceanothus, Brauton’s rattle weed, 1 blue dick, slender sunflower, wild cucumber, foothill penstemon, and bedstraw.  The Brauton’s rattle weed was located on a side trail to the left just before you reach a large fire road with a power line.  There were five plants in bloom.    When we walked up the hill we were greeted by several areas filled with slender sunflowers and woolly blue curls.  It was a nice view at the top of the hill. – Fred and Nellie

Cold Creek Preserve		Date: 04/19/2011
	We hiked in the creek bed and along the upper trail.  We also saw several California frogs in the creek. The plants that we saw in bloom:  Caterpillar phacelia, popcorn flower, storksbill filaree, canyon sunflower, sweet yellow clover, horsetail, morning glory, sticky monkey flower, sugar bush, purple nightshade, bedstraw, blackberry, poison oak, mule fat, pitcher/hummingbird sage, miner's lettuce, bush lupine, black sage, California buckwheat, Indian pink, greenbark ceanothus. – Fred and Nellie

Cold Creek Canyon		Date: 04/19/2011
	We hiked mainly along the creek but saw a lot of flowers on the path down to the creek and on another path returning from the creek.  There was a lovely grove of white thorn ceanothus, which is an unusual sight.  Most of the blooms on the white thorns were gone but we spotted a few.  We saw a lot of single stemmed yellow aster-like flowers in the meadow areas.  I couldn't find their name.  They had grasslike stems and leaves.  These are the plants we saw in bloom: elderberry, blue dick, purple nightshade, filaree, wild cucumber, California buckwheat, deerweed, sweet pea, sticky monkey flower, canyon sunflower, wild dandelion, gooseberry fuschia, yellow sweet clover, bajada lupine, greenbark ceanothus, pimpernel, black sage, cotton plant, sugar bush, yarrow, bedstraw, pitcher/hummingbird sage, windmill pink, blackberry, spring vetch, bur-weed, coastal live oak, shiny lomatium, poison oak, milk maids, white thorn ceanothus, sow thistle, prickly phlox, pin cushion, fiesta flower, two tone everlasting, mountain mahogany, chia, yucca, arroyo willow, scarlet buglar, notable penstemon. – Fred and Nellie

Malibu Creek State Park		Cistern Trail	Date: 04/15/2011
	We hiked around the visitor's center and up the hill a little ways from the visitor's center. Then we ventured across the street and up the hill. The plants we saw in bloom: yarrow, arroyo willow, purple nightshade, black sage, mint leaf verbena, black walnut, bush sunflower, popcorn flower, white nightshade (this was up the hill behind the visitor's center, under a large oak tree. The oak tree was surrounded by brush that was difficult to get through) fiddleneck, mule fat, blackberry, milk thistle, interior locoweed, yellow sweet clover, black mustard, annual bedstraw, elderberry, shiny lomatium, hummingbird sage, blue dicks, mariposa lily, verbena, lupine, purple sage (just one plant in bloom,) strigose lotus and owl's clover. – ed.

Palo Comado Canyon		China Flat Trail	Date: 04/13/2011
	We hiked the China Flat Trail starting at the trailhead off of Kings Court up to the top where we had our lunch, then down the Suicide Trail and took the connector back to the Chine Flat Trail to make a large loop of it. The day was breezy and cool, perfect for hiking a trail that can present little relief from the heat on a warm day. Probably the best parts of this trail is the spectacular view from up on top. My experience with the flowers on this trail tends to be a bit like the popular Sandstone Peak trail - you don't come here for the flowers, it's all about the view. Flowering highlights include rock rose, yerba santa, popcorn flower, some very nice displays of some of our dainty native grasses in bloom, silver puffs, wishbone bush, deerweed like a yellow flowering hedge, some of the little prostrate lotus, caterpillar phacelia, yellow popcorn flower, chia, bush sunflower, buckwheat, chamise, small evening primrose, mustard evening primrose, black sage, purple nightshade, blue dicks, prickly phlox, at least three different lupines, fiddleneck, bush monkey flower, yellow monkey flower, a couple of beautiful examples of our native cobweb thistle, woolly blue curls, and a single example of the dainty and uncommon sleepy catchfly. – ed.

Calabasas		Headwaters Corner	Date: 04/12/2011
	We hiked around the visitor's center and up the hill a little ways from the visitor's center. Then we ventured across the street and up the hill. The plants we saw in bloom: yarrow, arroyo willow, purple nightshade, black sage, mint leaf verbena, black walnut, bush sunflower, popcorn flower, white nightshade (this was up the hill behind the visitor's center, under a large oak tree. The oak tree was surrounded by brush that was difficult to get through) fiddleneck, mule fat, blackberry, milk thistle, interior locoweed, yellow sweet clover, black mustard, annual bedstraw, elderberry, shiny lomatium, hummingbird sage, blue dicks, mariposa lily, verbena, lupine, purple sage (just one plant in bloom,) strigose lotus and owl's clover. – Fred and Nellie

Thousand Oaks		Oakbrook Overlook Trail	Date: 04/10/2011
	This was a short hike located off Westlake Blvd. near Lang Ranch. It was a lovely day. The hike has a slight uphill grade that levels out when you reach the ridge. Nice view. We saw these plants in bloom: Blue eyed grass, popcorn flower, purple nightshade, gooseberry fuschia, shiny lomatium, fiesta flower, elderberry, miner's lettuce, black sage, blue dicks, bush sunflower, tall bedstraw and annual bedstraw, Indian pink, black mustard, sticky monkey flower, wild cucumber, horehound, scrub oak, slender sunflower, woolly blue curls, deerweed, California buckwheat, Southern California interior locoweed, peninsular nolina. – Fred and Nellie

Malibu Creek State Park		Backbone Trail	Date: 04/09/2011
	Today’s hike was the seventh leg of the 2011 Backbone Trail series co-sponsored by the National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council. We are hiking sections west to east covering one segment every two weeks. Today's hike direction was reversed as we ascended and then descended from Saddle Peak down into Dark Canyon and crossing Piuma Road on to Malibu Canyon. The following native species were noted in bloom: scrub oak, golden yarrow, deerweed, buckwheat, purple nightshade, chamise, prickly phlox, silver lotus, dove lupine, yellow sweet clover, bull clover, blue dicks, arroyo lupine, black sage, purple sage, popcorn flower, vetch, sticky monkey flower, everlasting, sugar bush, bush lupine, greenbark ceanothus, virgin's bower, canyon sunflower, eucrypta, baby blue eyes, mountain mahogany, fuchsia flowering gooseberry, chaparral currant, poison oak, bush poppy, big berry manzanita, miner's lettuce, wild cucumber, coast live oak, white thorn ceanothus, truncated lupine, crimson pitcher sage, twinning snapdragon, wooly blue curls, morning glory, caterpillar phacelia, chia sage, mariposa lily, big pod ceanothus, blue eyed grass, chinese houses, California poppy, wishbone bush, fiesta flower, lomatium, woolly blue curls, hollyleaf cherry, peony, tomcat clover, stinging lupine, woodland star, coastal wallflower, pincushion, gilia, owl's clover, blackberry, winter cress, black walnut, skullcap, summer holly, large flowered lotus, arroyo willow, blue larkspur, annual or common bedstraw, mule fat, canyon sweet pea, hedge nettle. Lots of non-native grasses but very good nonetheless. Our best flower day of the series so far.  – G. Sweel, R. Waycott (and others)

Circle X Ranch		Mishe Mokwa to Split Rock	Date: 04/03/2011
	Though 45 species were sighted over this 2-mile trail, many were quite sparse compared with most other years – apparently in response to this year’s “wacky weather.” With early and late rain, a false spring in between, and scattered freezes, the flowers have been hard-pressed to gain any momentum. The most prominent of the profuse were: deerweed near the trailhead, beds of popcorn flowers, lomatium, virgin’s bower, and goldfields. Other notables included blue larkspur, chia, wooly blue curls, small-flowered primrose, turkey pea, bajada lupine, and just a few chocolate lilies. The day’s bloom rates a “Fair” with hopes for improvement in coming weeks. However, the day’s clouds, cool conditions, and wealth of green rate a “Good” to very.  – Jack Gillooly.

Circle X Ranch		Grotto Trail	Date: 03/30/2011
	While there is a rather good selection of flowers nothing seems to be dominating this year. In particular the annuals seem to be rather sparse. All the regulars can be found but you have to work at it this year to find some of them. Things to watch for on this trail include three different kinds of monkey flower, masses of lush deerweed, California buckwheat, both bush and canyon sunflowers, chia, both of the common vetches, some early black sage, greenback ceanothus, several members of the carrot family with their tiny yellow flowers, purple nightshade, Chinese houses, blue larkspur, California saxifrage, a couple of our dainty native mustards, blue-eyed grass, blue dicks, a few early chamise, golden yarrow, morning glory, one star lily but a lot of nearby rosettes, wishbone bush looking way better than it did a month ago, Parry’s phacelia, popcorn flowers, a couple of different everlastings, oxalis, virgin’s bower and one chocolate lily. At fifty different species in bloom it was a decent variety even if the flowers are a bit sparse. For reference, in a good year I might expect to see seventy species on this trail this time of year.  – ed.

Circle X Ranch		Sandstone Peak Trail	Date: 03/19/2011
	Though some blooms were profuse, others are just getting started or still unseen, for this time of year. There was lots of Deerweed and California buckwheat early on, with more showy Prickly phlox among 3 species of Ceanothus: Hoary-leaved (white), Greenbark (pale blue), and Hairy-leaved (dark blue). It was quite a show in the “Ceanothus Tunnel,” just before the Sandstone Peak spur trail, but overall species were quite low (just 10). Give it a few more weeks and some extra rain, hopefully it’ll all come out at once.  – 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 you can e-mail the editor at: 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”