broadleaf stonecrop
Sedum spathulifolium
Crassulaceae

Without these in bloom, I have little chance of identifying this plant. I'm assuming they're a species of Dudleya, but I could be incorrect. I've checked a handful of plant lists for Garland Ranch and only one even mentions succulents. As you can tell from my pictures, this is a very moist area... but only in the winter and spring. Several years ago when I returned to CA, these were the very first wild (i.e., not garden) succulents I had ever seen in this area, and if my memory is correct, I believe the blooms were yellow. Can anyone ID?

ps 03/02/11 - Boy, did I have this wrong! At the very least, I knew this was a stonecrop thingahoo. I originally posted this as an unknown dudleya. Nope. No wonder I couldn't find a match after searching through hundreds of pictures of dudleya. Many thanks to Megan and Matti at Far Out Flora, I got an ID. I also double-checked the CNPS Garland Ranch plant list from 2006 and this is the only Sedum on their list. I've corrected the ID above.

dudleya ~ 02/20/11 ~ Garland Ranch

lanceleaf liveforever
Dudleya lanceolata
Crassulaceae

First ferns, now succulents? I am trying to branch out and look at plants outside of my comfort zone. This is typically a more southernly plant and Monterey County is about as far north that it grows naturally. Does anyone have a good dudleya ID site to recommend?

California maiden-hair
Adiantum jordanii
Pteridaceae

If I had a garden of my dreams, this is the one native fern I would definitely include. I suspect it would require quite a bit of moisture and could be challenging to grow in an artificial setting. That's Garland's waterfall in the background of the third photo, which had water running after a week of decent rain. Interestingly enough, this is not CA's only maiden-hair fern; there's another called southern maiden-hair (Adiantum capillus-veneris) that looks a lot like cilantro, the herb staple of many salsas.

water strider
Family Gerridae

If you didn't know what you were looking at, I think many people's brains would have a hard time making sense of this image. I took about 30 pictures of this true bug on a pond surface with a reflection of winter trees in the "background." Shown above is the best shot I got. I'm tempted to post another pic under the label crappy photos.

While Aquarius remigis (also formerly known under the genus Gerris) is generally agreed to be the most common water strider in CA and the U.S., I'm hesitant to place a positive ID considering my picture doesn't show enough details, nor did I take the time to physically capture this insect to bring home and examine the relative tarsal and antennal segments under my scope for proper keying. Powell and Hogue state there are about 10 species of gerrids in CA; indeed, UC Berkeley's Essig Museum of Entomology lists 12 species in their Heteroptera PDF.