Bulbs and other wildflowers - Northern California 2014

[Lori S.]

No, I never ski. Way too crowded for me.

I meant back-country ski... in the same places, off the beaten paths, where you hike.  (Sorry, I was assuming your reference to visiting the same places in winter meant ski trips... though I realize I don't even know if the area gets snow cover.  No worries, I don't do it either... maybe in my retirement, if DH can stand my wimpish ways out in the cold.  )  Is there high snowfall in these areas?   Or any snow?  Glad the ankle is fine.

[Robert]

Lori,

I use my grandfather's snowshoes! He used them to take the mail from Poverty Hill, California to La Porte, Califronia. Both sites are still remote even today, however there is a gravel and dirt road to Poverty Hill now.

The Roundtop Peak area generally gets high snowfall during the winter. 10-15 feet on the ground would not be unusual at all. On the ridges and peaks where I hike I'm sure that there is less due to the strong winds.

Here is a list of most of the smaller plants I saw:

Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana,    Artemisia arbuscula,   Sedum lanceolatum,   Phlox diffusa,  Eriogonum wrightii var. subscaposum,
Eriogonum ursinum,   Eriogonum rosense,   Eriogonum umbellatum,   Astragalus purshii,    Penstemon proerus var. formosa,
Penstemon heterodoxus,    Penstemon newberryi,    Erigeron barbellatus,   Erigeron compositus,    Chaenactis douglasii,   Silene sargentii,
Potentilla fruticosa,    Potentilla glandulosa ssp. nevadensis,    Potentilla flabellifolia,    Castilleja nana,    Castilleja pilosa,
Eriophyllum lanatum var. integrifolium,    Wyethia mollis,    Monardella odoratissim ssp. pallida,    Lupinus lobbii,    Ipomopsis aggregata,
Ericameria bloomeri,    Raillardella argentea   


Eriogonum umbellatum


Crystal Range, looking north.

[jshields]

All this is making me very homesick for California, as I lived there in my graduate school days ~ 60 years ago.

But there are now too many people and far too little water in California, so I will stay in Indiana.  I do try to grow a few California bulbs in my garden, if they are hardy.  No pictures, but some Triteleia and Brodiaea species are hardy here in the rock garden or even in the garden.

Jim

[Lori S.]

Really interesting list, Robert!  Thanks for posting it.  I'll have to pore over it and find out what many of them look like. 
Delivering mail by snowshoe sounds heroic to say the least!  I can find La Porte on Google maps, but I suspect the "Poverty Hill" that comes up must not be the right one... (south of Bishop, Cal.)?
Beautiful scenery.

[Robert]

Lori,

Poverty Hill was more like a gold mining camp with a few cabins for the miners. There was a mine shaft from the top of the mountain down to Slate Creek (It might be on a map). There were sluice boxes the length of the mine shaft where they collected the gold. As a little boy, my father still remembers them bringing the gold to the kitchen table every night. All of this was during the Great Depression.

In the early 1970's I would go camping there myself. Unfortunately the cabin was taken over by bikers and the whole place was trashed. I did get the "Our Prize" wood cook stove that I still use today, the snowshoes, and the old style long, narrow, cross-country skis (Unfortunately those were later stolen). It has been too depressing to return, so who knows what it is like now.

Also, the photograph labeled Erigeron compositus should read as Chaenactis douglasii. Oops! 

[Robert]

It was clear that I was not going to make it to the high country this week.    I did need spring water, so off to Camp Creek. I've been gathering spring water here for 40 years now. How everything has changed over the years.



Camp Creek



Right off I spotted Mimulus cardinalis blooming here and there. (Sorry, photograph is not so good.) Very easy to grow in the garden here at the farm.



Still some late blooming flowers on Lilium pardalinum.



Darmera peltata grows everywhere in and around the creek. The leaves can get 1 meter across. Easy to grow if you can give it enough water.



I came across this nice colony of Monkeyflowers.

[Robert]

In some cases, Mimulus guttatus can be perennial. Around the farm it tends to behave as an annual. I started with my first plants from the ditch in front of the property. Now they seed themselves around parts of the garden without any help on my part, although I do like to spread seed around if I get a chance. They are very sweet in the garden.



Near the end of my hike I came across this clear cut. Disappoint for me, as this is where I cut the hazel wood for the marriage staff I made before my wife and I were married. 



On the way back I found a patch of gooseberries, Ribes roezlii. Too bad I didn't have anything to put some of them in. I had a few and they were good.

[Robert]

It was brutally hot yesterday - 40c with a strong monsoon flow. In the afternoon I did the best I could to work on the compost / humus for next season. Too hot! A friend had asked me if I could gather seed from Salvia sonomensis. A little late in the season but a hike out in the chaparral would be divine during the evening.



Not much seed, but maybe enough to send some to the seed exchange.



All this was reason enough to visit Uncle Elwin's



The Redbuds, Cercis occidentalis, are nice this time of year with the reddish seed pods and green leaves.



I saw some of my old friends: Quail, Cottontail, Bushtits, Towhees, etc. No Bobcat this evening.



I spent my early adult life living here. This is the California I love and remember - lots of open space and nature.

[Robert]

Mount Murphy - tan mountain right, upper center. In the spring the whole mountain turns gold with Eschscholzia of various species.



It seems fitting as Mount Murphy sit above Coloma (down in the valley) where gold was discovered in December of 1848.



Fall color is starting - Cercis occidentalis - drought stressed plants.

[Robert]

This time of year it is difficult to get away to the high country - harvest season. However, I did make it to Lyon's creek the other evening for an hour or so.





The monsoon has brought much needed rainfall to the high country. I thought that Lyon's Creek might dry-up this fall, instead it has a good amount of water in it for this time of year.



The late bloomers have started: Aster occidentalis. There were a few Aster integrifolius - at sometime I'll get a photo as I like the ragged flowers.



Solidago canadensis var. elongata   Easy-to-grow in the garden.



Still many giant paintbrush, Castilleja miniata.

[Robert]

Late season fireweed.



Lupinus lepidus - Many were still blooming in the drier meadows.



And here and there a few Lupinus polyphyllus - most were already seeded out.



By a feeder creek I found one last flower of Aconitum columbianum.



Sorbus californica - The berries and fall color will be looking good soon.

[Robert]

It was very difficult to turn back, but the sunlight was giving out.



Aspen, Populus tremuloides - I enjoy sound in the garden too - rattling pods and leaves, running water. etc. I love the sound of aspen leaves in the garden.



Pyramid Peak in the distance, between the trees. I hope I can get up there this season.

[Maggi Young]

"History of fire and drought shapes the ecology of California, past and future" - http://www.sciencecodex.com/history_of_fire_and_drought_shapes_the_ecology_of_california_past_and_future-139116

[David Nicholson]

I enjoy your hikes very much Robert, thanks for posting.

[Robert]

I enjoy your hikes very much Robert, thanks for posting.

Very pleased to here from you David. This is the same location where I was able to gather seed of Lewisia triphylla. The seed is safe in the frig right now. I'm still looking for L. kelloggii - getting kind of late so maybe next season for it. At this same site Calochortus minimus grows abundantly. I was lucky to see a few empty seed pods. These alpines do not waste any time getting their seeds ripened.