Sunday, January 24, 2010

sunrise from home
January 24, 2010

I do love sunrises! It's an incredible light show each morning when it's not foggy or raining.

magnolia ~ 01/24/10 ~ Memory Garden

magnolia tree in Memory Garden
Magnoliaceae

This is the first magnolia flower of the year from my favorite tree in the Memory Garden.

ps 11/26/13 - This past month I noticed a couple blooms on this tree.  I thought it might be confused with the different weather we're having.  When I visited Pete in Berkeley, this same type of magnolia was in full bloom and leafing out.  He claims it always blooms twice a year.  I'll have to pay attention to that in the future.  This tree definitely goes in my dream garden.

blossom ~ 01/24/10 ~ Monterey

blossom
Prunus sp.
Rosaceae

Seeing the bright pink around here, reminds me it's ready to be spring. Notice the fall leaves still on the tree in the background of the first picture?

jack-o-lantern
Omphalotus olivascens

Like my generic ID? As I've stated before, I have difficulty identifying this kingdom of living organisms. We found these at the base of a recently chopped down tree.

ps 01/06/11 - I had this originally identified as simply fungi. I've found some better ID resources since originally posting this and have corrected the ID above.

pss 01/25/11 - I've been checking this stump for the past month or so. This year's jack-o-lanterns were particularly prolific and impressive. Unfortunately, I don't carry the camera during my morning walks and have no current pictures to post. Today, several looked liked they were in the process of melting into a shiny goo. It's actually a bit disgusting.
Ceanothus sp.
Rhamnaceae

We saw this on the side of the rec trail near the Fisherman's Wharf. I noticed this more than the other ceanothus blooming right now, because the leaves are unusually small.