cleveland sage

monkeyflower

mugwort: Baccharis salicifolia

sugarbush

manzanita flowers pink

hummingbird sage

ceanothus rainbow

The ceanothus is exploding on the hillsides. The chaparral is beginning to take on a blue-violet hue. The wild lilac is one of my favorite native plants—California poppies and orange flowers of the flannelbush against the wild lilac = Giverney in North County San Diego.

datura seedpod

ladybugs on deergrass

redbud seedpods

manzanita flowers

redbud seedpods

manzanita apples

baskets: abe sanchez

hummingbird manzanita

coletta cole: juncus

juncus textilis

coletta cole: acjachemen

juncus and deergrass

basketweaver diania caudell asked me to send some photos to jennifer kalt from CIBA, the California Indian Basketweavers Association, for their brochure that promotes policies to allow native folks to gather without permits on lands managed by the BLM and U.S. Forest Service. The brochure also protects access by tribal gatherers to culturally significant plants. The above photo is diania gathering deergrass on palomar mountain.

minnie tafoya, acjachemen, gathering juncus in deluz canyon

mulefat: Baccharis salicifolia

on february 18, we will be going to the rincon reservation to see the burn areas and to talk with tishmall turner, CSUSM tribal liaison, and kristie orosco, rincon's environmental person, about native habitat restoration. in the riparian area behind the tribal hall where we will first meet, i noticed mulefat growing everywhere. mulefat is a deceptively beautiful plant, but you have to look at it closely. i look at things closely with a close-up lens to enhance my vision. mulefat generally grows in wet or dry streambeds in chaparral or coastal sage scrub.mulefat has colonized the rock wall in front of my house, so it obviously doesn't need a lot of soil or water to grow. mulefat looks a lot like willow, and that's what salicifolia refers to: willow-leaved. i read online how easy it is to propagate mulefat from cuttings, so i'm going to try this from the plants growing along the creek near my house . . .
http://www.canyonscampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/restoring_san_diego_practical_tips.pdf

monserate preserve / RISK

rosie and i met at the monserate preserve to photograph the plant resurrection after the october fires. monserate preserve is across from the pala mesa golf course east of fallbrook and I-15. a great place to hike a 5 mile loop steep trail. but at 6:21 am, i was only interested in photographing the wild cucumber twining over the blackened rocks and branches. wild cucumber is everywhere this year. fire + rain seems to be a magical combination for this plant. later, we'll collect the seeds to make necklaces. we also photographed some of the new growth we know are wildflowers—the blue dicks/wild hyacinth, and other plants i'lll have to return to identify once they flower.

after our hands were too cold to photograph any longer, we headed down the 76 to bonsall. i wanted to show rosie and joe morteros along the san luis rey river. the river is infested with arundo donax, and invasive non-native that soon will be undergoing further eradication. we noted the donax, and noticed the paintballers who use the bridge as a target. the graffiti artists materials were strewn here and there as well, but their mural is impressive. RISK. probably in more ways than i can imagine.

indian rock native garden

cold. it's really cold. i email everyone, tell them coat, scarf, hat, gloves. it's southern california, so it's necessary to suggest to students what to wear on a fieldtrip when it's unusually cold. but clear too. beautifully clear following the beautiful and necessary rains . . .
we meet at indian rock. stare at the latest blue graffiti desecrating the rock. the entire front surface of the rock is defaced, the bright blue lines crossing over the diamond designs painted by a young girl hundreds of years ago during her coming of age ceremony. the bright blue lines belie the heartbreaking fact that they cover something the taggers don't understand. if they did, they might understand the necessity not to destroy the pictographs. serious graffiti artists know how little their own work is respected . . .