California goldfieldsLasthenia californica
Asteraceae
It's still a little early for an impressive showing of goldfields, but this is the closest I've been able to get a picture. If and when I see them, it's usually from a distance during our annual drive out Carmel Valley Road, pouring down hills in rivers of gold from mid to late April. The sky lupine (Lupinus nanus) is just starting to show itself (there are a handful in the second picture above). The two often bloom together here in Monterey County in great swaths of purple and gold.
ps 04/14/11 - I was wracking my brain trying to figure out where I gained the term "rivers of gold" and then it struck me that I got it from fellow blogger Chris Grinter of The Skeptical Moth. Click on his blog name to link to more illustrative photos of what these flowers can look like from a distance. He took his pictures March 27-28, 2010 in San Luis Obispo County. I've been very interested in the timing of flowers. It seems to me that much of it has to do with how far south and how far inland one is. Of course, we've had unusual weather this year with temps in the mid-70's in January and no rain for a month and a half, then snow here on the coast in March and April. I'm curious to see how the natural wildflower "shows" progress this spring.
ps 04/14/11 - I was wracking my brain trying to figure out where I gained the term "rivers of gold" and then it struck me that I got it from fellow blogger Chris Grinter of The Skeptical Moth. Click on his blog name to link to more illustrative photos of what these flowers can look like from a distance. He took his pictures March 27-28, 2010 in San Luis Obispo County. I've been very interested in the timing of flowers. It seems to me that much of it has to do with how far south and how far inland one is. Of course, we've had unusual weather this year with temps in the mid-70's in January and no rain for a month and a half, then snow here on the coast in March and April. I'm curious to see how the natural wildflower "shows" progress this spring.
