Hillside walk, 08 April 2019
Today's walk on the hillside was so much easier than last week. The mass of grasses has stopped growing and is now beginning to dry out, and this negated the need to be constantly pushing through heavy growth. At least not as heavy as previously. We now are having days with temperatures in the 80s F.
Accordingly, the big spring bloom is thinning out although the actual number of blooming species is increasing. The species count is probably now near its maximum.
When digging in the garden on the weekend, it was apparent that the soil is moist to a considerable depth, at least as deep as I needed to go in putting some new plants into the ground. While that condition may not last long, it clearly is having an impact on the spring flowers. For example, the suncups (Camissoniopsis bistorta) are utterly widespread on both the north and west hillside. Another example is the strigose lotus (Acmispon strigosus), which remains most common on the mid north hillside, but is scattered all the way to the top of the hill, as well as in other canyons.
It's nice to see new seasonal species, too, such as the cobweb thistle (Cirsium occidnetale var. occidentale) and the morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia). And on the north hillside, just a couple of California primrose (Elobus californicus), which is so susceptible to being eaten by animals.
The north hillside continues to have a good number of painted lady butterflies. While they continue to be feeding primarily on the mustard flowers, today I saw a couple of them on the black sage (Salvia mellifera).
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Caterpillar phacelia |
California primrose |
Danny's skullcap |
Miner's lettuce |
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Bush monkey flower |
Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry |
Common fiddleneck |
Holly leaf cherry |