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Flowers of a Lupine Bush along the coast of California Dec 5 2025 One thing I did not expect to find when I set out on this early December afternoon was a patch of beautiful Lupine in bloom. These flowers typically bloom beginning at the peak of spring and lasting into the early summer.   Lupine Bush In Bloom Today, however, Garrapata State Park along the Central California Coast was boasting some beautiful blooms!  It seems the rains a couple weeks ago along with the warm we

As most of us begin to prepare to dig out our ornaments to decorate our Yule trees for the coming winter season, the California Buckeye (or Aesculus californica)  donned its seasonal ornaments a few weeks ago as their bulb-shaped nuts began to dangle from its branches.   Late summer into early fall the buckeye begins to stand in stark contrast to the evergreen oaks, bay laurel, and Douglas fir that it typically grows amongst as its leaves begin to fall.  The fallen leaves unc

This morning I took to wandering into The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and trekked down to the edge of Aptos Creek to take in the water burbling past.  Looking up from the creek bed into the primarily-evergreen forest canopy brought streams of sunlit fog and glowing yellow leaves of the Bigleaf Maple, or Acer Macrophyllum,  into vision.  I took to the rocks amid the creek and found a place to sit on one of the larger boulders to sit under one of these deciduous delights

As one wanders the lush coastal mountains of California one thing that can be certain is that you will pass by a wonderful diversity of ferns. While many of these ferns thrive best in the deep damp gulches and along the creek-sides that share the forests cover, a few ferns appreciate a bit of a more dynamic habitat where the cycles of wet to dry can fluctuate within the day - sometimes the hour. One of my favorite fronds of this variety is the Goldback Fern, Pentagramma tri

As the Fall season really begins to set in, I always find myself stopped dead in my tracks at the beauty of the Poison Oak changing color...