Mary and Graham

Hillside walk, 27 August 2018

The weather continues to be relatively cool, perfect for walking on the hillsides. Most days of the past week have seen temperatures little more than around 90F. Perhaps indicative of this is that the deerweed (Acmispon glaber var. glaber) has even more flowers than last week. It's just a very small number, on only about a half dozen plants that I observed today, but considerably more than one would expect for the peak of summer. Similarly the bush monkeyflower (Diplacus aurantiacus) in lower Canyon 2 now has just a couple of “remnant” flowers.

The star attraction is the saw toothed goldenbush (Hazardia squarrosa). Although it's essentially at it's best right now, it never has very many flowers active at any one time. At present there are also lots of buds, promising a decent, long blooming.

This week there are no flowers of branching phacelia (Phacelia ramosissima). This flowering of this species is now over. Not only that, but the big plant in Canyon 8 is withering away, now just a fraction of what it has been.