Third week of Covid-19 debility. Though I hope to start feeling better soon, I ain't quite, just yet, and am cooped inside. So, why not sort through some overlooked snapshots from healthier weeks' walks, in Spring 2022:
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| Griffith Park: Observatory, left; Downtown through the haze, Hollywood in the middle |
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| Tujunga Wash, bursting with buckwheat |
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| Ah, the buzz of the bees in the buckwheat on the Stagecoach Road... |
The weather has been divine this spring in the SFV, as far as the California Floristic Province is concerned. Below, Griffith Park shimmers in laurel sumac, sugarbush, toyon, golden monkeyflowers, and bright red poison oak...
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Unusual view of the Hollywood Sign. The macabre stump suggests Peg Entwistle's desperate drop...😏
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Meanwhile, on Tujunga Wash, the buckwheat and white sage are burnishing to pink and orange as summer comes on:
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| City landscapers sheared this white sage (sigh) but it still had the drive to put out stunted bracts, thus making a beautiful crown on the blunt end for the bees to visit. |
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| Buckwheat, like sagebrush, displays an elegant, seaweed-like sway. It allows plenty of sun-room for other species to insinuate themselves. Thus they interlock the range in a common protective structure against wind and scorch. |
| Sagebrush a-Go-Go in Santa Susana Stagecoach Road State Park: |
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Notice, how healthy are the chaparral and scrub. It's a good lesson: the Western Drought that fills the headlines is very real, but it is a drought of the the man-made systems. The water deficit is in the overbuilt, agro-biz, green-lawn, center-pivot, Sprawlsville West.
Whereas, for our local habitats -- the buckwheat, the redberry, the birds, the bees -- our late rains and June Gloom have given a truly delicious season. |
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| The star of Santa Susana Pass is this gorgeous cinquefoil. At least I think it is....I've tried unsuccessfully to determine the species. Though it looks so distinctive, with its deep golden glow and perfect pentagram shape, I've not found anything remotely resembling it. |
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| Bush mallow |
The magnificent Plummer's mariposa lily. This was my first encounter with this endemic wildflower. Wow!
The laurel sumac is really pinking out...
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| More red flags are being waved by the luminescent holly-leaf redberry: |
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| Rhamnus illicafolia, the holly-leaf redberry |
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