Hillside walk, 01 April 2019
Although the peak of spring is here — we night even be slightly beyond it — it's different from last year. Ever year is different. While the abundant winter rains made for spectacular spring growth this year, the cooler-than-usual winter and the extended period of cool weather has made a big different, too. For example, in previous years of this survey, I usually felt disappointed that the wild cucumber, with it's masses of white flowers, had ceased flowering by the time of peak spring. This year it is still in bloom. This is probably a result of the cooler spring weather. Furthermore, in the past week we had at least a couple of days when the temperature rose to over 80F. The result is that today virtually all of the wild cucumber flowers, while still present, are wilting or partly withered. If the warm weather persists, those flowers are likely to be gone very soon.
Two new seasonal flowers today herald the true peak of spring, these being whispering bells (Emmenanthe peduliflora var. peduliflora) in upper Canyon 4 and the first few bush monkey flower (Diplacus aurantiacus), also in Canyon 4. The more usual location for whispering bells is the south hillside, but I see no sign of them this year, maybe because of the exuberant grasses.
All four species of lupine continue to flower although all of them are now heavily into fruiting, winding down their spring activity.
The California bluebells (Phacelia minor) are at their peak on the north hillside and they are present elsewhere, too, probably the most widely visible sign of spring. Along Lida Street, above Canyon 2, today we have the flowers of ropevine clematis (Clematis pauciflora), one of the most beautiful spring flowers, noteworthy because the flowers are so short-lived.
Lots of other flowers deserve mention today, too, but one just can't mention them all. It's a great time of year on the hillsides, despite the abundance of grasses making for heaving, slow going.