July 15, 2010 Signing off for the season! Wow! What a wonderful, color filled season for wildflowers. As the heat continues, the wildflowers will be dwindling, so we will be looking forward to next year. Many thanks go out to Joe Willis, Jeff Titcomb and everyone else for their continuous submissions! July 8, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: These six have been blooming for a week or more in most places around Quincy and will continue to bloom throughout July.  Also, the Leopard Lilies are starting to bloom and should peak in most places over the next several weeks.  I'm seeing them here and there along Spanish Creek and tributaries such as Tollgate Creek.  The Lady Slippers (orchid) we posted a couple of weeks ago have mostly wilted but are still recognizable by hardy explorers.  The ones we saw are around 100 yards past the bridge over Spanish Creek on the Oakland Camp Road around 1/2 mile before the camp.  On the right hand side around 30 feet off the road.  For me, they were the discovery of the season!   Pennyroyal (left)      Mule's Ear (below)             Indian Hemp (left)                                            Narrow Leaf Milkweed (right)     Scarlet Gilia (left)                                                                      Chicory (right)            July 7, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: Saw my first Leopard Lily of the season on Tollgate Creek near where it enters Spanish Creek.  Beautiful, and there were several.  Mullein (right) is a common roadside weed, but the flowers are quite nice when viewed close up.  This one was by the railroad track where it crosses Tollgate Creek.    This relative of St. John's Wort called Klamath Weed is all over the county on roadsides and tracksides.          Two kinds of thistle (right) and (left) are blooming in our area.  Bright red flowers and they attract lots of beautiful insects.       July 6, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: Another walk in the vicinity of Oakland Camp on Friday revealed that five different milkweeds are blooming.  I've included here a photo of Purple Milkweed (right), AKA Heartleaf Milkweed, which won't be blooming much longer.  The Showy Milkweed is just now coming into bloom and I'll include some shots of it in my next message.  The Blue Elderberry (left) is blooming all around Quincy and this beautiful specimen is next to the corral at the entrance to Oakland Camp.  Yellow Salsify is still blooming in shady areas, but has already gone to seed in the drier, sunny places.  Took a drive up Gold Lake Road just before Saturday's fireworks in Graeagle and saw lots of Spreading Phlox and Red Penstemon (right).  Chicory and Cinquefoil are at the roadsides and track sides throughout the county from 2,000' to over 5,000'.  Check my blog, blackoaknaturalist, for more milkweed photos, many with beautiful bugs visiting. June 28, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: I led a nice morning hike along Spanish Creek opposite Oakland Camp and saw lots of clusters of daisies which are also abundant all around American Valley, but this one was graced by a Goldenrod Crab Spider. They can slowly change color and, more often than not, you'll find white ones against a yellow background and yellow ones against white.  There's a good reason for this.  The Giant Sawtooth fungus, around 5" in diameter, was right in the middle of camp and surprisingly had not yet been stepped on.  The Ninebark (right), a shrub in the rose family, is abundant on both sides of the creek.  Sierra Onion (left)  has dried up and withered in many places by now, but there are still some clusters of fresh pink ones near the creek.  The Madia were abundant along handler Road on the Greenhorn Creek side. We've found over 100 species of wildflowers this past month along Spanish Creek between Quincy and Keddie. June 26, 2010 Joe Willis Writes to us: Here are three seldom seen but common flowers of the shady areas of our forests.  Last week we discovered the Mountain Lady Slipper in a dark area of dense shrubs beneath some old growth pines and firs.  In the same general area we found Spotted Coral Root (right), which like the lady slipper is an orchid, Western Dog Violet (left), and Wild Ginger (below). The latter flowers are especially hard to spot as they are always totally covered by their large, heart-shaped leaves.  A good place to see lots of these is in Boyle Ravine at the end of Coburn Street.  You have to push aside individual ginger leaves in hopes of finding the flowers beneath.  Very beautiful.  They are in the same family as Dutchman's Pipevine, a beauty of the lower foothills and places like Bidwell Park.     June 26, 2010 Jeff Titcomb writes to us: The Red Bells are blooming along the roadways and hillsides in the Indian Valley and around Greenville, CA. The flowering trees are all out in force in every color range imaginable. If you travel up past Round Valley Lake and head towards Long Valley the meadows are full of flowers and the hillsides are still covered in Dogwood Blossoms. I traveled down the other side and back from Round Valley to Long Valley and down to Canyon Dam and Lake Almanor. The tree damage from the heavy winter storms is evident in the size of the downed tree I parked my 85 Lincoln Towncar next to for size perspective. Pink flowers along the roadways and still apple trees higher up in bloom. June 25, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: Here are seven from our trip up Mt. Hough last Monday.  At the half way point, between 4-corners and Reinhart Meadow, we saw the Blue Ceanothus (right) which is a close relative of Deer Brush, Buck Brush and Mahala Mat (formerly known as Squaw Carpet), and Snow Plant along with one beautiful specimen of Scarlet Gilia.  Further up, between the China Grade intersection and the lookout, there were literally acres and acres of Arrowleaf Balsamroot (left).  Among these bright yellow blooms were thousands of leaves of Mule's Ears that were not yet blooming.  They have similar-looking flowers but quite different leaves.  If you get out and walk around, which I highly recommend, you'll see the Beaver-tail Grass, which is a type of Mariposa Lily which has been given many other names, Wild Onions, Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily (right), Blue Larkspur and Mountain Violets which are yellow.  We also saw Pussy Paws, Showy Phlox, Choke Cherry, various Buckwheats, Spreading Phlox, and many beautiful-colored lichens on rockas and trees.  I won't mention the fresh bear scat.:)  June 22, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: All of these were seen early Friday morning between the bridge, 1/2 mile from Oakland Camp and the camp itself except the cow parsnip (below) was seen 100 yards south of the One-Way bridge on Chandler Road near the road to Oakland Camp.  On our walk from camp to the first bridge we saw around 75 species in one hour.  Very good year for wildflowers!  The Lady Slippers (left)  were a very special find - the first time I've seen them in Plumas County.  Most of the species we saw can seen in many places around the county between 3,000 and 4,000 feet elevation.  Monday we'll visit the top of Mt. Hough and will undoubtedly see many new kinds.                                           Yarrow (right)   Wild Hollyhock (left)         June 18, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: There's quite a variety of flowers blooming along Spanish Creek in the vicinity of Oakland Feather River Camp.  In most sunny areas the Indian Rhubarb (left) has already gone to seed and the large, umbrella-like leaves are what we notice.  However, in some of the shady, north-facing stretches they are still in full flower.  Along the Cascades Trail, about a mile downstream from the popular swimming hole before the camp there's a great patch of White Brodiaea, pictured here, and Death Camas, Meadow Foam and Diamond Clarkia (right). In many areas of drier, open forest above the creek are Wild Onion. In the shadier areas near the creek are lots of Crimson Columbine (left), and the patient observer is rewarded by views of hummingbirds pollinating them.   Early morning wildflower walks in this area will be rewarded by an incredible variety of bird song - Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Robins, and Towhees leading the chorus.   June 14, 2010 Joe Willis Writes to us: Good places to look for wildflowers now, besides the paved highways, are Forest Service Roads near creeks like Big Thompson Creek off the La Porte Road, Squirrel Creek by the road up to Argentine peak from Williams Loop, the various roads to and around Snake Lake, and Old Highway near Keddie, including the Keddie Cascades Trail.  Happy Flowering. Field Clover and Milk Weed                 Wild Pea     Poppy                                  Fleabane   Deer Brush         June 9, 2010 Joe Willis writes to us: Took a hike up Tollgate Creek from Oakland Camp Sunday, then downstream from the camp along Spanish Creek.  In two hours, saw over 50 species!  Here are a few. The red beetle is on a flower called Gilia (left).  It's blooming along the roadsides out of Quincy in both directions, especially north of the Greenville Y.  Likewise the Hyacinth (right).  It's a lily, formerly known as Brodiaea.  The Wild Rose (left) is also blooming up in Boyle Ravine and many other places at this elevation.              June 5, 2010 This past week, the prettiest flowers I saw, other than in people's yards, were mostly non-native, roadside plants, AKA weeds.  Up at Almanor, not much was blooming yet, but due to the frequent spring storms, I think later June and on through July should be great for flowers.  The only one of these I saw at Almanor was the Madia (Pictured Left) growing along the East Shore, about a mile south of the Hamilton Branch turnoff.    The Snapdragon (pictured right),  the domesticated relative of Monkeyflower, is thriving in the garden in front of Morning Thunder in Quincy, along with Marigolds , Pinks, and other beauties.  They Day Lilies there are about ready to bloom.    Choke Cherry (left) as well as its cousin, Bitter Cherry are blooming all over, including in my yard.  This one was along Highway 89 north of the Y.      Bachelor's Button (right) often mistaken for Chicory, is a close relative of Star Thistle, but doesn't have thistles.  Also, it comes in many shades of blue, purple or white, or even mottled.  This one was growing out of the sidewalk near Morning Thunder.      The rest, including my favorite, the Salsify (left) were growing in the field between the Quincy Animal Shelter and Mr. B's Automotive.  I hope they don't mow that field.  It's a great place for wildflowers.  My favorite milkweed spot, near the fairgrounds, is getting ready to pop.  The Showy Milkweed attracts the beautiful Red Milkweed Beetle and the Monarch Butterfly once the flowers bloom, but now they are already attracting Ladybugs and other Beetles whose names I don't know.  Some of these beetles are so colorful that when people see my close-up photographs they assume they are exotics from the Amazon or Africa and are thrilled to know they can be seen around Quincy.   June 2, 2010 Richard McCutcheon sent us some pictures of Lupine that are blooming in Moonlight Canyon. Now that the sun is out and shining, the flowers are really starting to pop up all over!!       June 1, 2010 Joe Willis took a drive around Quincy Junction Rd. and Oakland Camp on Sunday and sent us some really gorgeous photos.   Daisy with Checkered Clerid                                       Poppies with Bumble Bee       Sandhill Cranes

May 31, 2010

Joe Willis writes to us:

The Choke Cherry (right) is blooming in many places, looking somewhat like white lilacs at 55 mph, but clearly in the rose family when viewed close up.  Bitter Cherry can also be seen along the highway, but is not so noticeable at speed because the flowers are spread around individually rather than in large, hanging clusters. 

Also common now are the Balsam Root, (left) often confused with Mule Ears, but distinguished by having several leaves along the length of each stem rather than having all the leaves grow out from the base of the plant. 

Finally, the only thing to rival the beautiful, large patches of Blue Lupine are the large patches of Field Clover  (right).  I saw several patches that must have been several hundred square feet in area and were being visited by lots of bees and other insects.  And then the rain came.  By the way, Saturday's post of my flowers looked nice, but there's a little mix-up on the labeling of Fleabane and Pineapple Weed.

May 25, 2010

The Bloom Blog was mentioned in Sunset Magazine!

Pick up your June 2010 Issue of Sunset Magazine and check out the article on Sierra City and The Lakes Basin Area. The article states that early June is the beginning for wildflowers for that area, but not this year- I would give it until the end of June because there is still 2 feet of snow! This has been such a chilly spring so far that the snow has yet to melt. We are patiently waiting, and there are clearly other parts of the county that are blooming in full force!

May 22, 2010

Wildflowers are "Springing" up all over!

Joe "on the go" Willis has been seeking out spectacular colors and species of wildflowers.  Poppies, Lupines and Bush Monkeyflower are just about everywhere, and are easy to spot.  Joe says he has been fielding lots of inquiries about the Bush Monkeyflower.  He has a good close-up of this flower on his website in the May 4th entry on his blog.  The Old Highway near Keddie revealed Checker Bloom  (photo at right).
 

Much less common but blooming now is the Canyon Azalea.  They are white and give off a wonderful aroma.  

Red Larkspur, Buttercups and Balsamroot are the most noticeable while driving.

All the photos were taken at the Keddie Wye (seven miles north of Quincy on  Hwy. 89) or at turnouts within a half mile north of the Wye. 

Blue-eyed Grass             Sulfur Pea                        

                                                    
          Fleabane                                Pineapple Weed                                                  

May 19, 2010

Jeff Titcomb writes to us:

The wild flowers are beginning to bloom along the highways through and around Greenville.

Better than that though is the amount of trees in bloom from the pale pink apple blossoms to the yellow of the maples.

The white pears are in full swing, but won't last long.

Lilacs are out in force, but in the early stages just yet.

Many Wild Iris (left) are in bloom and others in deep purple, yellow and red.

The Lupine (right) and dogwoods are going crazy in the canyons to and from the Lake Almanor/Greenville area.

Here are some pictures from this morning.

 

P.S. Tons and tons of daffodils are still blooming at Plumas Pines area in Prattville on the lakeside.

Also, we have heard from people who commute from Graeagle to Quincy that bright purple Lupine are blooming up and down Hwy 70. 

 

May 13, 2010

Joe Willis writes to us:

Three flowers got my attention yesterday just north of Indian Falls where I photographed Showy Phlox last week.  The Heartleaf Milkweed (left) is starting to bloom and their intricate flowers a beautiful and will soon be attracting colorful butterflies and  beetles. 

The Scarlet Fritillary (right) was bright and beautiful even though this one appeared to have been beaten down by the recent snow. 

Finally, the Sulfur Pea (left) is suddenly common all over the hillside.  The latter is a little blurry as I was hanging onto a branch for dear life so I wouldn't fall into the road.

May 11, 2010

Jeff Titcomb of Greenville took a drive up to Round Valley Lake, above Greenville, looking for flowers and waterfalls. He had plenty of luck with sightings of Snow Plants, Dogwood, Manzanita and Squaw Carpet.

Snow Plants (left)

     Dogwood        (Right)

Waterfalls at Round Valley Lake (left)

May 10, 2010

Joe Willis writes to us:

Here are some that are common in the Feather River Canyon now and most are moving quickly up to our elevation.  When this current storm passes, there should be another burst of species blooming at the 3,000 - 4,000' range. 

This specimen of Harlequin Lupine (left) was just beginning to bloom.  Soon, they will be amazing as the entire stem will sprout multi-colored flowers.  The wild mustard (wall flower)  and radish are plentiful now, too. 

Hansen's Delphinium (left)

     Foothill Poppy (right)

Pentstemon (left)

                                     Indian Paintbrush (right)

May 7, 2010
Meet Grady!

We would like to introduce you to our brand new four-legged reporter, Grady.  Mike and Valerie Nellor of Quincy adopted him from High Sierra Animal Rescue in Portola only two weeks ago!                     

According to Mike "Grady is my new Wildflower Retriever.  He is a natural, he found the Mules Ear right off the bat.  What a guy!"

Photo of Grady on the right "hard at work on the job."

Also on their journey, they found shooters and delphiniums out at Oakland Camp (follow Quincy Junction road north from the stoplight by Safeway and Quincy High School).   We will look forward to getting more reports from Mike and his new pal as he grows into a 'big dog'.
                   
      Delphinium                                        

   Shooters at right          
                                                                    
                                                      
                                                     
         

May 5, 2010
Feliz Cinco De Mayo!!

Joe Willis writes to us:

A pretty good flower day.  On the way out of town, I saw a large patch of Butter 'n Eggs (pictured right) in front of Papa's donuts.  It's in the same family as Monkeyflower and Snapdragons. 

Then, on the way home from Greenville, just north of Indian Falls, I saw a great patch of Showy Phlox (pictured left).  Unfortunately, it was on a dirt bank in a place with no safe turnout.  So, I went on to Indian Falls and turned around.  On the way back, there's a good little turnout high above the river just upstream from the falls.  From there, I carefully walked back to the phlox which were on the left (west) side of the road.  When I got to the phlox, I saw lots of other interesting flowers. 

Starflower (pictured right) was plentiful, but not noticeable from a moving car.  Also, the heartleaf milkweed had prominent purple  buds.  Even though the flowers were not yet open, they are quite pretty at this stage.  Soon the monarch butterflies will appear.  They sometimes arrive before blooming and try to pry the flowers open. 

Also near the phlox was the delicate little Spanish Clover (left).  So, I stopped for one, bright pink flower and found three others.  And, I didn't get run over.  Be really careful if you stop here.
 

 

 

 

May 4, 2010
Joe Willis writes to us:

The "grass pink" (pictured left) is in the carnation family.  It's not a native, but has become successfully naturalized throughout the foothills and is making its way up the canyon, a little further every year. 

The red larkspur (pictured right) is fully blooming now.  A week ago, the blossoms were still somewhat closed.  It's in the buttercup family, along with columbine and Monks Hood, which I find fascinating. 

The stonecrop (pictured left) is also known by its scientific name, Sedum, and is often stolen from the wilds and planted in rock gardens.  It is also cultivated in nurseries.

Wallflower (pictured right) is all over the place and quite visible at 55 mph.  It's in the mustard family.  As for the blue lupine, there are several species in the canyon, some being bushy perennials.  In some areas they have formed broad carpets hundreds of feet long, rivaling the displays on Table Mountain a month ago.
I also saw some beautiful white larkspur (Hansen's Delphinium), Deadly Nightshade, and wild irises.  The Death Camas (left) here is clearer than the photo of it I sent last week. 

There are several common, white lilies around here that can be confused with this one.  Some are edible, but don't fool around without expert help.  These were growing on Old Highway around 1/4 mile off the southern entrance to Hwy 70. 

The Madia (pictured right) is a beautiful composite (sunflower family).  Lots of yellow composites look alike to the amateur, but this one is very distinct due to each "petal" (i.e. ray flower) is 3-lobed, and there is lots of rusty red/lavender around the disk flowers in the center.  These were growing between Rich Bar and Woody's in several places. 

Only a few of the flowers are obvious while driving 55.  I strongly recommend stopping at every safe turnoff and walking around, especially the ones near waterfalls and creeks.  Watch out for traffic!  The waterfalls were great!  Bear Creek Falls (pictured left), is accessible from a 10-minute walk up a gated dirt road directly across from the rest stop by the tunnels.

April 29, 2010
 

Although we had some tumultuous weather this past week, the flowers near Indian and Spanish Creeks and the Feather River are starting to bloom. Joe Willis captured several blooms near the Greenville Y and Hwy 89. The Indian Rhubarb, (pictured left) is always quite photogenic when it blooms and then of course again during fall color.

April 26, 2010
Joe Willis Writes to us:

I sent some Friday from some roadside stops near the Greenville Y.  Here are some from our neighborhood in Quincy as well as up Boyle Ravine (map below).  The "swampy buttercup" is growing abundantly across the road from the Quincy High School tennis courts.  I can't remember what species it is. 

Henbit (pictured left) is short for "Henbit Dead Nettle" a member of the mint family abundant in the fields of American Valley.  On my hike up Boyle Ravine, I saw leaves of many kinds of lilies that will bloom soon - fritillary, Solomon's Seal, and various Calochortus (Mariposa Lilies).  The fruit trees in our neighborhood are blooming beautifully.  I saved the bugs and other animal shots for my blog, blackoaknaturalist.

April 22, 2010
Joe Willis Writes to us:

Lots of new flowers arrived along my route from Quincy to Greenville.  The Currant bushes (pictured right) are blooming all around the Greenville Y on the roadside cliffs and along the trail down to the raft-launching spot where the rivers join. 

Buttercups are blooming everywhere.  This patch was in a field along Stampfli Lane. 

The Shooting Star, pictured earlier, are now peaking and are quite common along Old Highway near Keddie.  They won't be around much longer.  A second species of yellow violet has arrived, Last week I photographed the Fan Violet with lacy, fern-like leaves.  This new one has oval shaped, smooth-edged leaves and is the Pine Violet     (pictured left). 

 The Manzanita are in full bloom everywhere.  The blue Lupine are coming out along the highway and this one was at the Greenville Y.  Another new arrival is the White Stickseed, in the same family as Forget-Me-Not's.  These were at the Y, also. 

The Cinquefoil are about to burst.  I think they'll bloom this weekend and they are plentiful near the rivers along this route.  A yellow, rose-like flower with marijuana-like leaves. 

The tiny Blue-eyed Mary (pictured right), is hard to spot until you get used to looking for it. The flowers are only about 1/4" wide, but are quite pretty.  They're in the same family as Monkey-Flower which will also arrive soon.  This weekend should bring out more species.  A good first day to roam the woods and roadsides would be Saturday.

April 20, 2010

Jeff Titcomb of Greenville writes to us:

I am sending you the daffodils because Mrs. Carol Kingdon planted tens of thousands of daffodils around the Indian Valley from Taylorsville up North Valley Road around the valley. She planted them at crossroads and intersections and all along the roadside. They are all in full bloom and will be gone soon.

 

The trees in town are just starting to bud out and the early blooms are out, not apples or full bloom yet, but many crab apples and such are blooming.

April 19, 2010

Gorgeous weekend weather!

This past weekend the weather in Plumas County was glorious! It seemed as if everyone was out enjoying their yards, planting flowers and giving their lawns the first mow of the season. The scent of fresh cut grass and fertilizer was palpable. This is where the pun "spring is in the air" must come from.
The photo to the right is an Oregon Grape with a visiting bee. Joe Willis photographed this on Quincy Junction Rd. on Sunday.

April 14, 2010

Joe Willis Writes to us:

Plum Tree at the Plumas County Museum

"On a walk around Quincy yesterday during a sunny period I saw that many yards and businesses had recovered from the last snow  quickly as far as flowers are concerned.  The attached flowers are from Morning Thunder on Lawrence, the Courthouse lawn, the Museum Lawn, and the Library."  

      Garden at Morning Thunder Cafe, Quincy

In other sightings around the county, John Hafen of Crescent Mills, traveled down to Caribou in the Feather River Canyon for a wildflower trek and came by the Visitors Bureau today to give us a full report. Apparently, Fritillary, Watercress, and all sorts of Buttercups, including the rare Waterfall Buttercups that bloom only under the rushing water are all blooming down the canyon right now.  California Poppies are just about everywhere and the blue Lupin are starting to make their appearance.   You can find Redbud all the way up the canyon to the power dam.  Indian Paintbrush are showing up in the lower part of the canyon below Caribou.  They were chasing the Orchids but they have not bloomed yet.

April 13, 2010

Joe Willis writes to us:

"Here are my results from a very rainy and snowy trip down the canyon yesterday morning.  The red larkspur (left), AKA Delphinium, was prominent in a stretch around 22-23 miles from Quincy along the rock walls on the north side of the road.  Very gray skies and drizzle made the color in the photo not so great.  I wonder how many people make the connection between larkspur and larks."
 

"So, here's a picture of a meadowlark (right) I got Sunday morning in Quincy.  The redbud was great for a mile or so on either side of the Pulga bridge, 50 miles from Quincy.  For people coming up the canyon, that's 19 miles from the sign near Wick's Corner that says "Quincy 70." "

"Also common along the roadsides was fiddleneck (left) and California poppies.  Due to the cold rain, the poppies were closed, but you could still tell there were many of them between the Pulga Bridge and Jarbo Gap.  I'll have some stuff to say about Lakes Basin later today, but maybe not before closing time.  A very busy day ahead.  I should add, though not in Plumas County, the broads swaths of wildflower color in the fields between Chico and Redding were very impressive.  Butter-and-eggs, goldfields, tidy tips, and blue dicks (a lily)."

 

April 12, 2010

All of this rain we are getting this week is going to make the wildflower display much more colorful as weeks pass. Jeff Titcomb, of Greenville, hiked down to Indian Falls last week and sent some photos of the rushing creek and a few flower shots. While it isn't "prime" wildflower viewing time at Indian Falls yet, there were a few unidentified flowers blooming.

Indian Falls is located off Hwy 89, about 2 miles north of the Greenville Wye. You can park your car in the marked parking lot at the top of the trail near the highway and it is a short but moderately steep walk to the falls. There is a small beach to the right of the trail and to the left there is some large rocks near the falls that you can climb around on. It is a very pretty spot for a picnic and photo opportunity.

April 9, 2010

Our intrepid reporter of all things flora and fauna, Joe Willis, sent us a few nice photos he took while out exploring yesterday.  And as usual, he found some really interesting species that you can find and take a look at up close and personal.                                       

The photo to the right was taken on a stretch of road just south of the entrance to Keddie Cascades Trail area.  There are rock walls on the south side that are covered with various types of stonecrop, not yet blooming, but making beautiful rock gardens that look like they have been landscaped.

This pretty little flower to the left is stout-beaked toothwort.  The species is part of the mustard family that includes a lot of early bloomers like wild radish, mustard of course, rock cress and whitlow grass.  These are out blooming in  profusion now along the Old Highway loop south of Keddie.

The very large white leaf manzanita to the right was photographed near the Greenville Y.

Joe says "that things are really coming alive since the recent snow melted away." 

April 7, 2010

Joe Willis writes to us after an afternoon in Greenville, Indian Valley, and feather River Canyon:

"Flowers weren't fully recovered from the snow, at least not any new ones.  Got a few fair shots.  The rock cress (left) is out in abundance on the jagged rocks just upstream from the Greenville Y bridge. 

The dandelion (right)  is along the roadside there with lots of different bugs visiting. The shooting star are near the south end of Old Highway, just off Hwy 70 going north.  There were around 5 or 6 blooming, but I could from the leaves there will be hundreds there in another week or so. 

There were just a couple of California buttercups (left), but also many leaves of ones that will bloom soon.  I found out the shooting stars (right) are often called mosquito bills in the Bay Area. 

The whitlow grass and filaree that were blooming before the storms are out again in force.  The whitlow grass is so tiny most people won't notice it, but it's quite fascinating, and sometimes grows in  very dense patches.  Both it and the rock cress are in the mustard family.  If we don't get another storm, next week should be great.  I saw lots of leaves of flower species that are coming soon.  Oh, Manzanita are blooming here and there between Greenville and Quincy as well as down the canyon."

April 2, 2010

We just have to share this amazing photo that Joe Willis took of the bee with the Lupine.  It was taken near Cherokee a couple of weeks ago, but he says that this scene is being repeated all along the lower half of the Feather River Canyon, from the town of Belden on down.

There are still plenty of sunny yellow Daffodils to be seen if you take a walk or a drive all around Quincy right now.

Joe wants everyone to know that the recent snow and rain is delaying things a bit, but all of this moisture will make for an even more colorful April!

Happy Easter everyone!

March 31, 2010

Plumas County woke up to a blanket of snow this morning! The daffodils in front of the Plumas County Visitors Bureau were covered in the white stuff. Surprisingly, they still looked quite cheerful!

March 26, 2010

"Things are starting to come out in the Quincy area" according to Joe Willis.
"I shot the Henbit Deathnettle, a tiny member of the mint family, in the fields around American Valley.  There is a lot of interesting lore associated with this plant.  Google it for some fun."
                        

                          Henbit Deathnettle  ( right)

"The Shooting Star was photographed along the Old Highway near Keddie, along with a species of Cardamine, Mustard family (Brassicaceae., formerly known as Cruciferae).  There are many species and are variously known as Bittercress, Cuckoo Flower and Lady's Smock, among other names. Like most members of this family, has alleged nutritional and medicinal properties."  I found these all along the paved portion of Old Highway that fronts Spanish Creek on the north and these flowery banks on the south side of the road."                                                

   Shooting Star (left)

                                         Cardamine (below)

"The Johnny Jump Ups were near the Plumas County Animal Shelter; they are basically domesticated violets. Around the town are various Daffodils blooming in bright, bright sunny yellow and the Crocuses in that beautiful purply-blue color."

                                          Johnny Jump Ups (below)

March 22, 2010

Happy Spring!!!!

Looks Like we are off to a wonderful start- Joe Willis blogs about his Spring Equinox trip to Table Mountain:

Field of Poppies at Table Mountain

"Amazing Saturday, first day of spring at Table Mountain.  Greatest wildflower display I've ever seen, and I've been to Table Mountain many times.  The lower Feather River Canyon around the tunnels had lots of patches of Waterfall Buttercup, Ranunculus hystriculus, above the highway on wet cliffs, but there was nothing else blooming until we passed into Butte County near the boundary of the Plumas National Forest where we saw California Poppies." 

                                                    Birdseye Gilia (right)

Common Monkey Flower (left)

"Then there some Redbud patches from the Pulga bridges on over Jarbo Gap.  Table Mountain, however, was amazing, and is probably a good indicator of what's to come in the canyon and on through Plumas County in the coming weeks.  The rainy period followed by lots of warm days has been the perfect beginning of the season for flower watchers." 

"The attached photos are all captioned and were taken at Table Mountain.  For more photos, watch my blog at blackoaknaturalist from today onward for a few more days.  For further information about specific locations and wildflower lore, feel free to e-mail me at blackoaknaturalist@att.net."