vernal pool bent grass ~ 04/22/12 ~ MBC CNPS Wildflower Show

vernal pool bent grass

Agrostis lacuna-vernalis
Poaceae

Normally, I never include pictures from the annual Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society Wildflower Show held at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. However, for the 51st Wildflower Show (the largest in the Northern and Western Hemispheres!) there was a newly described grass species found at Fort Ord. When Brian LeNeve and his wife Carol were creating the identifier card, they faced a challenge coming up with a common name. Before they added water to this tiny chunk of specimen, the grass was actually bent... hence the name. Despite the lack of rain this year, there were over 670 species of flowering plants at the Wildflower Show - not too shabby.

I love Fort Ord and am looking forward to when 15,000 acres are saved as publicly accessible natural areas. The species diversity there is incredibly unique. Speaking of which, the federally-owned former Fort Ord lands (~14,600 acres) has just become the newest National Monument (link to another local news article) putting it on the map with the likes of Pinnacles National Monument. The remaining few hundred natural area acres belong to the State of CA as Fort Ord Dunes State Park.

ps 05/11/12 - I've since learned Brian was pulling our legs during his talk the day before this picture was taken. For those who don't know the genus Agrostis is known as bent grass. From David Styer I guess there was some talk about whether it should be vernalis-lacuna or lacuna-vernalis.

wedding tree ~ 04/08/12 ~ Garland Ranch

wedding tree
California white oak / valley oak
Quercus lobata
Fagaceae

How often will our wedding anniversary land on Easter? While extending our regrets for leaving the Highlands shin-dig early, a sentimental fellow best known as "Boo" suggested we take Easter egg offerings for our wedding tree. That's exactly what we did! Once the kids' egg and adults' beer hunts were finished, we found cracked eggs we liked and wrapped them up for our hike up to the mesa. It was great fun selecting our own hiding spots on our tree. Notice the ant on mine? Many ants came to check it out. Andy hid his high in a nook. The vernal greenery on this deciduous oak was notably varied this year with clusters of tight buds to soft unfurled leaves. Click to see this tree on April 8 in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

ps 04/12/12 - I looked for fairy fingers and could not find them.

Easter 2012 in the Highlands

(not) our eggs

brightest flowers (fuchsias) that caught my eye

Bird Island of Point Lobos

hidden egg

my favorite spring garden view

Here's my annual Easter post. I use the same five picture themes every year. To see past years, click my * easter label and scroll down.

This year's celebration felt very different for several reasons. The Williams family are making the tough and beautiful transition without Cynthia. Two of her daughters, Molly and Honey live on the compound, and they are shaping "The Carmel Institute" to better suit their own preferences. I absolutely love their garden. Also, Andy and I have our own evolving life priorities. At the shin-dig, there were plenty of familiar faces and several new folks who brought plastic eggs and decorated beer cans. I don't remember the last time I saw plastic eggs as part of the hunt. As for Andy and me, well, we didn't dye any eggs this year (nor did we make paper snowflakes... hmm?) Time and attention have certainly slipped by us. Plus, it was our wedding anniversary, and that post will be forthcoming.

If Molly, Honey, and all their friends who helped out read this, here's a heartfelt thank you!

common flax ~ 04/08/12 ~ Carmel Highlands

common flax / linseed
Linum usitatissimum
for more information click here, here, and here
Linaceae

I really wanted this to be the native Lewis' Flax / western blue flax (Linum lewisii); however after looking at numerous pictures, the flower face and the leaves just didn't seem right to me. The newly designed Jepson eFlora descriptions for L. usitatissimum and L. lewisii are as confusing as usual for a novice like me, but compared to the 1993 version, the maps are very impressive with updates thanks to Joshua R. McDill. So, this widely naturalized common flax from eastern Mediterranean to India is my best guess. The flowers were sparsely spread around the paths in the orchard. Each stem was about knee to thigh high; I'm short, so maybe about 25 inches or so. It's a pretty delicate flower.

I must confess to how I happened to discover what kind of flower this is. As I was looking in the neighbor's trash bin for plastic containers (yogurt, hummus, salsa...) for my spring repotting, I found one of those lavender eye pillows. Since I wanted to used the nice silk fabric for another project, I emptied out the contents. There were funny looking flat brown seeds mixed in with the dried lavender blooms. Of course, I looked it up online and discovered flax's many uses. I now scoop a little bit of the mix into an old tied stocking and toss it into the occasional bath water. My homemade bath bag smells nice and seriously softens my skin. Eh, what a motley set of discoveries from simply going through trash.