Bulbs and other wildflowers - Northern California 2014

[Robert]

Today I attempted to visit Pine Hill. There is now a locked gate and no public access. 

Nearby I did see this nice Lupinus albifrons, definitely one of my favorites. Perennial, silvery foliage, and a good fragrance. 

[Tony Willis]

Robert

lovely to see,you are correct it is a nice thing . Some of the foliage is often nicer than the flowers.

[Robert]

Robert

lovely to see,you are correct it is a nice thing . Some of the foliage is often nicer than the flowers.

Tony,

Yes, I agree the foliage of L. albifrons can be such a beautiful silver colour. I have some nice forms here at the farm - very silvery all year. My next visit will be to Rock Creek. There the L. albifrons grow directly out of the south facing rock face of the road cut. Needless to say they are not as lush as the previous photos. Also a good area for various Calochortus, Fritillaria, and other native bulbs.

[Robert]

I finally had an opportunity to spend a few hours out in the field checking on our native bulbs and other plants. This time I went up the hill a bit to the South Fork of the American River and Rock Creek. All public land with few people.

The down side of going up the hill, this time, is that I see some of the same plants: the season is not as progressed as lower down the mountain.

Dichelostemma capitatum is everywhere on the cliff faces. This is the only bulb I saw in bloom, except one Triteleia ixiodes far up the cliff where I could not photograph it. I saw many other bulb species, but it is still to early in the season for them to be blooming.

Other wildflowers were looking good. Considering the dry season the display was surprisingly good. It is even better when we get good rainfall!

[Robert]

Foothill Poppy, Eschscholzia caespitosa, is putting on quite the show now, especially with Sky Lupine, Lupinus Nanus.

The Rock faces are also covered with blooming Lupinus albifrons - everywhere!

Spider Lupine, Lupinus benthamii, is another very showy species blooming now.

[Robert]

In shady areas one sees Nemophila heterophylla and Silene californica in bloom with Goldback Fern, Pityrogramma triangularis, and various Fritillaria and Calochortus - mostly F. micrantha and C. albus, not yet in bloom.

There has been enough rainfall to keep this waterfall going for another season - and the Lilium pardalium. They are located at the top of the falls on the left hand side. There are two nice clumps that should look nice in June.

[Robert]

Closer to the farm at the serpentine barrens the Lewisia rediviva is now in bloom.

Also, Nemophila menziesii -  nice to see wild plants, not something out of a "wildflower" seed mix.

Lots of Monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus - the rain really brought them on!

And masses of Goldfields, Lasthenia californica.

[Tony Willis]

Robert

looks wonderful. Redivia is a superb plant,only ever found one in flower but it was great to see.

[Robert]

Robert

looks wonderful. Redivia is a superb plant,only ever found one in flower but it was great to see.

Thanks Tony.

I'll be following the Lewisia rediviva up the mountain as the season progresses. There are other Lewisias in the area, some are snow melt bloomers, so timing is everything. I'm not retired from work so I'll see what happens - I do enjoy getting out in the field.

Thanks again.

[Robert]

Things are changing fast with the warm and dry weather the last two weeks. Today, I hiked in the Traverse Creek area. The creek flows through a serpentine area with oak - pine woodland in some of the surrounding higher areas.

Two weeks ago when I checked the Fritillaria micrantha was not even in bud and now they are finished and setting seed.

Iris hartwegii is in bloom throughout the area.

as well as Calochortus monophyllus.

[Robert]

A few lewisia rediviva were still blooming, however it was too overcast for the flowers to open.

I was very happy to find Viola douglasii,

growing with Mimulus bicolor.

[Robert]

The Triteleia hyacinthina were just starting to bloom,

with the Ceanothus lemmonii blooming in the higher terrain.

Another good plant was this viola, perhaps pedunculata, or a ssp. of lobata. I'll get an ID when I have a chance to key it out.

[Robert]

On the way back to the farm I checked on things in the canyon of the South Fork of the American River.

In semi shaded areas Calochortus albus is everywhere. It is very common in this part of California.

Many of our Lupines are still in bloom, Lupinus benthamii among my favorites.

Dudleya cymosa blooms on cliff faces, in baking sun!

[Robert]

In more shaded areas there are a few Delphiniums. This one was on a shaded cliff face, and I could not get close enough to it to make a positive ID, it but it is most likely D. hansenii.

Wallflowers, Erysimum capitatum, and Silene californica also share the shaded areas,

with Triteleia ixioides in the semi shade.

[Robert]

In the baking sun is Tarweed, Madia, most likely elegans. I love the scent of its foliage, especially when the fall rains arrive.

Mimulus auranticus blooms until things dry-out too much. Then it looks dead, only to come back to life with the fall rains.

The drought here in California has certainly shortened the bloom season and there are fewer flowers. I was checking on a colony of Erythronium multiscapoideum today and found aborted flowers that never made it out of the ground. This was most likely due to the extreme dry from October to the end of January went the ground stayed baked and hard.