In forests, a spectacular member of the Lily family is blooming now, Red Clintonia, Clintonia andrewsiana. I photographed this beauty just after Monday's rain.
This perennial herb is native to California, mainly Northern California. While many native wildflowers are small, this plant practically announces itself, "I'm here and I'm beautiful!"
Today has been sunny and windy, especially close to the ocean, temps in the 60's.
Sometimes you look at the sky and can't quite believe what you are seeing. That's what it must have been like for Kathy Haas a week or so ago. She photographed this beautiful sight.
Along a forest path, there is this spot where a beautiful Red Clintonia is beginning to bloom. It is a member of the Lily family so note the big lily leaves. On the lower right is a Feathery False Solomon Seal in full bloom. There are several others nearby. We got 0.13 inches of rain on Friday - not a lot, for sure, but you can see the moisture on these plants!
Thanks to Kathy for allowing me to share her cloud photo with you here.
Today, Sunday, is sunny with a fog bank over the ocean. It's breezy again today!
Warm weather has followed the rains and wildflowers are already putting on quite a show. A walk on a coastal bluff could bring visions of exquisite beauty.
And forests have their share of wildflowers too. False Solomon Seal just began blooming. It's a member of the Lily family.
And here is an emerging Andrew's Clintonia, Clintonia andrewsiana, also called a Red Clintonia, It too is a member of the Lily family and, if the flower isn't eaten by a Deer, the beautiful blossoms will bloom the first of May.
It is absolutely lovely here today on the Mendonoma Coast.
Red Clintonias, Clintonia andrewsiana, are just now blooming in coastal redwood forests. This member of the Lily family is a California native. It's also called Blue Bead Lily, for the beautiful, cobalt-blue berries the flowers morph into in the summer. That's if a Deer doesn't eat the flower head! Rick and I were lucky that this big, exquisite Red Clintonia wasn't eaten and bloomed this year. Last year we weren't so lucky. You might be able to see it is up against the red bark of a Redwood tree.
This particular plant stands about two feet tall. The flower will continue to open up in the days to come. What a gift to find this wildflower in the darkest part of the forest!
In less than 24 hours we had 4.9 inches of rain at our house in Anchor Bay. That's enough to cause flooding and, indeed, the Garcia River has flooded Highway One this morning. The seasonal creek the crosses our property was doing its best imitation of a mighty river and was running dangerously fast and very muddy. We were afraid that our golden retriever, Huckleberry, might get too close to the stream so we leashed him up.
I took these photos late yesterday afternoon after 4.2 inches had fallen. Here's Rick and Huck next to the spot on the creek where we usually can jump across - not yesterday and still not today!
In the upper left is the path we usually take to get down to the forest floor. It was a river too!
Here Quinliven Creek rushes underneath the bridge Rick built with his son, Ron, so we could get across in times like these. This is about as close to the bridge as we've seen the creek. It was a little scary going across the bridge!
And below you can see the creek as it looks this morning. It's lower and not so muddy but still running strong.
And amidst all this winter-like weather, a wonderful sign of spring - a Red Clintonia emerges.
