Author Archives: Jeanne Jackson

•

I wouldn't call these small wildflowers rare, but they don't bloom very often. Neighbors have a fairly large colony of them, but only one bloomed this year. In showing some of the rare wildflowers at Rick's and my place, we found a group of Little Prince's Pine blooming along a trail up from the forest floor.

They stand only a couple of inches tall and they are very easy to overlook. Native wildflowers, in many cases, are Mother Nature's way of seeing if you are paying attention!

Thanks to Craig Tooley for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

It's breezy and warm, with the fog out over the ocean. I have a second clutch of Violet-green Swallows in a birdhouse under the eaves. The babies are getting very loud and I think they will be fledging soon.

•

Another unusual plant appeared recently, one I have never seen before. It's Pyrola aphylla and has a rather silly common name of Leafless Wintergreen. It's blooming on the forest floor now. Craig Tooley came by several weeks ago and photographed the plants, which were just barely beginning to bloom. Craig's close-up of the bottom of the cluster shows several new shoots coming up and extremely small leaves.

More recently Mary Sue Ittner and Amy Ruegg, along with others, came over to see them too. You can see by Mary Sue's photo that most of the blossoms have opened  up.

And here's Amy's closeup of the beautiful flowers. Pyrola aphylla are perennial herbs and native to California.

For me, the amazing thing is, I've never seen them on Rick's and my land before, and we've been here over 27 years. What a welcome surprise!

Thanks to Craig, Mary Sue, and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Another foggy, cool day near the coast!

 

 

•

There is something going on underground at Rick's and my place and an adjacent neighbor in Anchor Bay. Fungi and plants are weaving their magic for some rare and unusual wildflowers. The rarest of them is the Small Ground Cone, Kopsiopsis hookeri. They are mostly dried up now, but a single one barely pushed to the surface a few weeks ago. They are known to be symbiotic with the plant Salal. The new Small Ground Cone kind of looks like a turtle emerging from the sandy soil.

Nearby there are Gnome Plants, Hemitomes congestum. They come up in different places, but in the same general area. Fungi in the area is Matsutake and Queen Boletes. This photo of a newly emerged plant was taken by Bob Rutemoeller.

And just across from the Gnome Plants, a single California Pine Foot, Pityopus californicus. This photo was taken by Craig Tooley.

I have a couple more to show you, but on another day!

Thanks to Bob and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here. I sure wish I had 3-D glasses that would let me look into the ground and see all the connections going on down there!

Drippy fog this morning, enough to show .001 in the rain gauge. The sun is trying to break through this afternoon. The fog has lifted and the Pacific Ocean is still there! Yay!

• 2 Comments

•

John Batchelder saw the first covey of California Quail last week Saturday. There are 14 chicks in all. Can you spot them all? Dad is the handsome fellow on the left, always watching out for his family. Mom is to the right.

Quail have a three-note call, which you can hear at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Quail/sounds

Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

Yesterday the fog disappeared. The fireworks off the Point Arena Pier were amazing last night. Today is once again fog-free. It's a spectacular day on the Mendonoma Coast!

 

•

Coast Lilies, Lilium maritimum, are having a wonderful bloom this year. Mary Sue Ittner enjoyed seeing one with a Bumblebee sleeping inside of it.

This particular flower is pale compared to others seen. Here are Coast Lilies as photographed by Beth Roland, blooming on the Gualala Ridge.

And Amy Ruegg photographed these beauties on The Sea Ranch.

They are taller than usual this year, possible due to the ample rains after several years of drought. The wildflowers seem to be celebrating by blooming as big and bountiful as they can.

Thanks to Mary Sue, Beth and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

The fog was cool and drippy this morning, as fog is wont to be. But it has pulled back and warm weather has poured in. It should be sunny for the holiday weekend here on the Mendonoma Coast.