Visitors 17
Modified 31-Jul-23
Created 21-Jul-23
42 photos
A family of coyotes patrol the grassy hillside of the Hawthorns Preserve, after crossing Sweet Springs Trail on the wildlife corridor from Portola Valley Ranch’s shady woodland. A colorful dragonfly waits out the cool morning, expecting warm sunshine later. A doe and I exchange glances before she moves aside to watch me pass. Ground Squirrels scurry from burrow to burrow, watching out for coyotes and hawks.
An overcast morning on Sweet Springs Trail: springtime flowers fade, seeds set. Our native plants are adapted to life in this extreme Mediterranean climate – “winter” deluges followed by hot dry summertime. Now is time to set seeds, to bank them away until the rains renew the soil for new growth, then to pull back to endure the annual drought. Many of our flowering plants go dormant, some disappearing entirely from our world, seeking refuge in roots, bulbs, and corms deep underground.
Giant Trillium is almost gone from our above-ground world. Thin Solomon is ready to follow. White Globe Lilies have dropped their seeds and will soon retreat underground as well. Sticky Monkeyflowers fade, along with leaves, pulling back for the hot times. California Buckeye flowers have been pollinated; Buckeyes now pull life back from their leaves, putting their energy into forming seeds, to hold until they can drop them onto moist ground.
Soap Plant is just about done with its annual display, fairy-white flowers floating in the gathering dark, each one open for one evening only. Now the seeds set. Soon they will drop, and the entire shoots will wither and disappear.
Our rare Caifornia Pink is an outlier, flowers in full display from their one refuge in all of Portola Valley Ranch.
Fragrant leaves remain: Yerba Buena, Mugwort, and Pitcher Sage.
A quiet walk the morning of July 20, 2023; some photos here are from other days.
An overcast morning on Sweet Springs Trail: springtime flowers fade, seeds set. Our native plants are adapted to life in this extreme Mediterranean climate – “winter” deluges followed by hot dry summertime. Now is time to set seeds, to bank them away until the rains renew the soil for new growth, then to pull back to endure the annual drought. Many of our flowering plants go dormant, some disappearing entirely from our world, seeking refuge in roots, bulbs, and corms deep underground.
Giant Trillium is almost gone from our above-ground world. Thin Solomon is ready to follow. White Globe Lilies have dropped their seeds and will soon retreat underground as well. Sticky Monkeyflowers fade, along with leaves, pulling back for the hot times. California Buckeye flowers have been pollinated; Buckeyes now pull life back from their leaves, putting their energy into forming seeds, to hold until they can drop them onto moist ground.
Soap Plant is just about done with its annual display, fairy-white flowers floating in the gathering dark, each one open for one evening only. Now the seeds set. Soon they will drop, and the entire shoots will wither and disappear.
Our rare Caifornia Pink is an outlier, flowers in full display from their one refuge in all of Portola Valley Ranch.
Fragrant leaves remain: Yerba Buena, Mugwort, and Pitcher Sage.
A quiet walk the morning of July 20, 2023; some photos here are from other days.
Dan Quinn