March in the garden is both maddening and full of spring’s mirth. Even with our terribly low winter precipitation thus far, the garden and countryside are moving along – unfolding in flower, fruit and seed.

We’re lucky that our relatively mild climate allows us to plant flowers, fruits and vegetables from seed almost every month of the year – but even so March may take high honors as the big seasonal Seeding – indoors and out. (more…)

Nature is by far the most genius of garden designers, the most creative of floral arrangers. And if there’s one thing Nature loves, it’s color. Bright, mellow, bold, muted, clear: the whole rainbow of color. Most of us do too, which is why the new expanded and full-color edition of “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide“, is both a treat of photography and a useful tool of information for plant lovers of our region. Photo: Wildflowers at table mountain.

Written by Albin Bills and Samantha Mackey, illustrated by Larry Jansen, designed by Carole Montgomery and Elizabeth Quivey, and published by Studies from the Herbarium at California State University, Chico, “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide” is available at local bookstores and from the Chico State Herbarium. Albin Bills and Samantha Mackey will be at Lyon Books in Chico for a book signing event on Thursday February 23rd at 7 pm. Photo: “Canyon Delphinium. Its red tubular flowers attract hummingbirds.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Most towns and regions have their “special spots” - their places of supreme natural beauty to which residents not only take visitors and guests, but to which they themselves return annually if not more often - to be calmed, to be inspired, to be reminded of how little we are and how much awe-inspiring and abundant beauty there truly is in this young-old world of ours. Table Mountain outside of Oroville is such a place. Revered with possessive pride by locals, it also transcends regional pride. By many experts, Table Mountain is considered one of the “premier wildflower destinations in all of California” - a state known for the beauty and vast number of plant and flower species. Photo: Wildflowers on a blue-bird day at Table Mountain. “Patterns and sheets of color for which Table Mountain is justly famous.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

The story of the formation in rural Butte County is ancient: “Set against the rounded foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada, about 5 miles north of the town of Oroville, the mountain’s dramatic cliffs and distinctive flat top rise hundreds of feet above the Sacramento Valley. What was once an ancient stream of lava flowing down a broad river channel is now an elevated plateau perched above the surrounding terrain. Growing on top of this improbable platform are the extraordinary flower gardens that we chronicle in this book,” describes Bills in the book’s introduction. Photo: “Vernal Pools. These ephemeral pools on Table Mountain rest on a substrate of basalt (most other vernal pools in California sit on some sort of clay-based hardpan, not a lava flow.) It is a special habitat designated “Northern Basalt Vernal Pools,” found in less than half a dozen other places in the state. These presence of these pools was one of the chief reasons for setting it aside as a reserve.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

The introduction to this book leads you understand that you are in for more than just straightforward plant identification handbook. You are rather in for a true naturalist’s guide as the title claims, that marries facts such as “botany and geology are always linked” with accessible and enjoyable language for novice wildflower enjoyers. As the first edition of the book claimed: “This book is first an illustrated field guide to the flowers of Table Mountain, designed especially for use by visitors from the general public. But it also includes a comprehensive list of all known plants on Table Mountain, for use by the more accomplished botanist.” Photo: Butte County Golden Clover (Trifolium jokerstii). Named in honor of Jim Jokerst, whose memorial plaque we feature on the dedication page of our book. See p. 113 for the interesting details about this plant. Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

A naturalist and photographer himself as well as a professor of Field Biology at Butte College for more than 30 years, Albin Bills has been exploring and appreciating Table Mountain since the early 1970s. Photo: “Purple Owl’s Clover. One of everyone’s favorites.” And, lower photo, Albin Bills on a back-packing trip. “I look forward to backpacking every summer.” Photos and captions courtesy of Albin Bills.

“It didn’t take me long,” says Albin, “to realize how special this mesa is. You might say it was love at first sight. I have spent over three decades exploring its natural history. It is a place that can be enjoyed on many levels—strolling through fields of wildflowers, puzzling over their abundance and patterns, hiking to remote waterfalls, encountering salamanders and horned lizards, piecing together the mesa’s geologic history, or simply enjoying a beautiful spring day as a bald eagle soars by. The more you look, the more there is to see. Like all wild places, Table Mountain has much to teach. I hope our new book will open the doors of discovery for those who read it.” As well as writing and expanding on the original book, Bills took the majority of the color photographs in the newest edition. Photo: “Coal Canyon Fall. Note that I use the singular of fall instead of ‘falls.’ “Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Samantha (Sam) Mackey, co-author with Bills on both editions of the book, claims (with some delight) to have been in charge of the “annoying nit-picky details” in the course of both books. A field and research botanist, Mackey received her Masters Degree in Botany from CSU, Chico in 1999, she clearly has a talent for such details as well as a love for Table Mountain. Photo: “Cow pruning on an old growth California Buckeye”. Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills. Lower Photo: Sam Mackey at home in Chico.

It was in the mid-1990s that Sam first journeyed to Table Mountain and like many before her, she was moved by its unique and vast beauty. While the regional botanist James Jokerst (now deceased) had compiled a much-consulted “The Vascular Plant Flora of Table Mountain, Butte County, California” in 1983, Sam among others was amazed that a field guide had not been created for the site. “Table Mountain is a stupendously beautiful and botanically interesting place that was just screaming for a book since there was no local source of information about the natural history of the place for all the folks that like to visit it,” explained Sam in her bio for the first edition. Photo: “Close up of Foothill Poppies.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Sam was working in the labs at Butte College when she and Albin Bills met and then together with line-drawing botanical illustrator Larry Jensen, began work on the first edition of the book in 2000 and 2001. For the most part the content began with the Jokerst plant list and cross-referenced herbaria notations, both of which were then confirmed by personal sightings of the plants through the seasons by Albin or Sam. Photo: “Foothill Poppy. There are no California Poppies growing naturally on the top of Table Mountain.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

For the second edition, besides the addition of the beautiful color photographs depicting the color and variety of flowers as well as the topography and some of the wildlife (for instance, newts and cows), the plant list has been expanded to include confirmed sightings of plants since the first edition in 2003. Further, the new edition was able to take advantage of the fact that many herbaria (including the Chico State Herbarium) now have digitized collection catalogues. Likewise, Sam was able to consult and keep their book consistent with the most recent version of the “Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California”, officially published in 2012, and considered the “single most comprehensive resource on California’s amazingly diverse flora.” Photo: “Sky Lupine the species that paints the mesa blue. Note the sharp borders which separate it from its neighbors-a result of differences in soil type and depth.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Walking through changes that plant people might be interested in, Sam explains that with the second edition of the “Jepson Manual” some plants have changed plant families, some have changed genera: “For instance, what was once Arabis brewerii is now Boechera breweri spp. shastaensis; monkeyflower (Mimulus) has moved into the Lopseed (Phrymaceae) family of plants.” Photo: “Butte County meadowfoam. By reading page 112 in our book you should be able to see why this species is so important to the story of Table Mountain. Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills. Sam recently related the story of finally sighting the elusive and endangered Butte County Meadowfoam. Although it had been included in Jokerst’s original Flora list, neither Sam nor Albin had a confirmed viewing and so it was not included in the first edition of the “Wildflowers of Table Mountain”. One day after looking thoroughly, Sam and her hiking companion encountered it on the way back to the car, and it is now proudly listed in the 2nd edition with a color photo.

In addition to the flower photos and detailed plant descriptions that will be useful to plant lovers in a great portion of the North State, not just at Table Mountain, I enjoyed and found useful the opening discussion on geology, and the ending sections on animals of Table Mountain. Photos and discussions of the birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles that add life and interest to your wanderings among wildflowers will further deepen your knowledge. Photo: “California Newt. Hundreds of these salamanders migrate every winter to the streams of Table Mountain, where they breed and lay their eggs.” Photo and caption courtesy of Albin Bills.

Knowledge is of course power - in this case power to be more caring and careful. “Special” places in our world are fewer and farther between in my experience than they were in my childhood, in my parent’s childhood. To gain understanding, to learn the names and the characteristics of places, plants and animals we encounter is often to feel more connected to them, to place more value in them and as a result to take ever better care of them for the future to enjoy fully as well. While “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide” is a solid field guide for botanists and other naturalists, it is also a celebration of the life and world around us. As Albin Bills writes in the book’s introduction, Table Mountain offers us “Sheets of lupines, goldfields, and poppies paint the basaltic plain blue, yellow and gold, in a spectacle that makes you glad to be alive.”

Get out and revel in it. “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, a Naturalist’s Guide” 2nd edition will only add to the fun.

Good wildflower viewing sites throughout the season include: (generally listed moving from the south to the north)

➢ Table Mountain and Feather Falls, both near Oroville, are great walk/hikes open to the public year round. Follow these links for maps and hike descriptions: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/publications/pdfs/hiking/fr_featherfalls_infomap.pdf; http://www.calphoto.com/clcwl/table.pdf

➢ Near Lake Oroville, The Potter’s Ravine Trail in bloom March through April and early May.

➢ Lumpkin Ridge Road – further up in the Plumas-National Forest and east of Oroville, west of Quincy – should be in full-bloom in May and “The Harlequin Lupine (Lupinus stiversii) will knock your socks off,” Forest Service Botanist Chris Christofferson told me.

➢ Rim Road above Concow is a rare plant community habitat on serpentine outcroppings and is a good place to watch fire recovery in action after the 2008 summer fires.

➢ Magalia – all along the Skyway provides great views over wildflower meadows and oak habitat.

➢ Bidwell Park in Chico: Horsehoe Lake and Trails in Upper Bidwell Park as well as most of Lower Bidwell park as well will be good wildflower viewing March – early May.

➢ Vina Plains Preserve is managed by the Nature Conservancy and they often host wildflower tours in spring. The site is home to more than 280 species of plants and you should see Adobe Lily (Fritillaria pluriflora). Because Vina Plains Preserve is a working ranch, it is open to the public on a very limited basis. For more information, call (530) 527-4261. Photo: Butter and Eggs (Triphysaria eriantha) blooming en masse in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico in March.

➢ The Sacramento River Bend Area, just north of Red Bluff, offers spectacular wildflower displays throughout the spring. Vast vistas of yellow and purple fields are common during a springtime hike along the Yana trail. Contact the Redding Field Office at (530) 224-2100 for more information.

➢ Sacramento River Trail in and around Redding – runs through part of the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

➢ Shasta Lake Clikapudi Trail on the south side of Shasta Lake is a good place to watch fire recovery in action–it burned several years ago in the Bear Fire. Here’s a link to a trail map:http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity/documents/st-main/maps/rogs/shasta-lake/trails.pdf.

➢ Blue Door Flat - northeast California, south of Alturas. “The Blue Door Flat area provides an interesting area to watch waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds, as well as colorful wildflowers…in spring the meadow provides a fantastic array of color…” Contact the Alturas Field Office at (530) 233-4666.

➢ Later in the season, Waters Gulch and Squaw Valley Creek are good–see
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/WatersGulch/index.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/SquawValley/index.shtml

➢ Also later in the season - Bunker Hill Ridge on the Pacific Crest Trail should be in full bloom June/July. The trail around Little Grass Valley Reservoir provides a great view of the lake and the wildflowers in June/July.

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In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California. It is made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays can also be found at ANewsCafe.com.

In the winter days, I spend my daydreaming time thinking about things I might want to change about my garden, or add to my garden. With such little precipitation in the past few weeks or in the coming few weeks, my mind keeps returning to the loveliness of the design elements and the plant choices in the Oroville home garden created by Catie and Jim Bishop. Thought this was a good time to re-run the piece. Happy winter dreaming and planning for your North State garden!

An Oroville couple brings their love and knowledge of the spare splendor shared by California’s deserts and alpine zones to their home with a low-water, low-maintenance, habitat-friendly, high diversity and high-enjoyment desert garden. Photo: Catie & Jim Bishop’s colorful desert garden in front of their Oroville home illustrates the beauty that a spare, dry garden can provide. (more…)

Put the growing needs of melons and the gardening conditions of much of the North State together, and what you get is an uncommonly happy marriage. This week on In a North State Garden (Northstate Public Radio 91.7 fm Chico/88.9 fm Redding at 7:34 am Saturday and 8:34 am Sunday), I talk to Kaye and Roger Diefendorf of Morning Glory Organics about growing melons. Located in Butte Valley near Oroville, Morning Glory Organics grows a selection of specialty and heirloom melons. (more…)

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his mid-1840s poem “Hamatreya” the famous line: the “earth laughs in flowers.” It’s difficult not to agree and easy to know just what he meant - whether you are a gardener or not. Even as spring rains pepper us with damp and cool, on the eve of the vernal equinox (March 20th), the Northern California landscape all around us is bursting forth in laughter, chuckles, chortles, giggles - perhaps even snickers - of varied and plentiful flowers - wildflowers, most specifically. Early spring is just the beginning of the long, luxurious awakening of our region’s remarkable wildflowers, which will continue until mid-to late summer. As is true in so many ways, we Northern Californians are privileged to live in close proximity to such riches of wildflowers and as well to annually have so many events, organizations and resources helping us to learn more about and enjoy the wildflowers more than we might on our own. (more…)

It is now officially Autumn and the length of our days diminishes a little with each circle of the planet. In the edible garden, harvesting has gone on for some time as spring crops moved over for summer crops and - lucky for us here in northern California - in many cases they have been replaced with fall crops, some of which are up and going strong, and our winter crops have gone in or are going in. Even if by “crop” I just mean a few rows of beets or carrots in the raised beds out back. Just as for the squirrels and the acorn woodpeckers, perhaps more than any other time of year, Autumn compels us to store up against the cold and the dark. It brings out our instinctive desire for some level of self-sufficiency. Photo: Cattle grazing, and honeybees working on the drive into Chaffin Family Farm - a model for the integrated family farm ideal - below Table Mountain in Oroville. (more…)

Photo: Old olive trees in a North State home garden.

Olives - to see growing, to eat the fruit and to savor the flavorful and aromatic oil - are among life’s treats in Northern California. County Fairs are also among life’s treats in Northern California and we are deep into both olive harvesting and county fair season. By way of celebrating our region’s agricultural wealth and heritage, Slow Food Shasta Cascade is co-hosting a Tehama County - Tehama Trail Marketplace at the Tehama District Fair in Red Bluff September 23 - 26th, 2010. The marketplace will include lots of olive tastings - from fruit to oils - which are distinct to our region. Many other agricultural vendors will be there to visit and visit with as well. (more…)

“So it might be about testosterone,” Chris Hunter says to me - only half-laughing - about his affection for tropical plants. “Tropical plants just get so huge with even one year of growth - they’re amazing! And those leaves…” he finishes, as if to imply that the leaves on tropical plants are beyond articulation. After all, when you read the word “tropical” what came to your mind? Maybe clean white sand and the wide blue sea, maybe a Piña Colada with pineapple slices and a colorful little umbrella, but if you are a plant person you probably thought of BIG green leaves. Lots of them. Planted together in dense, self-humidifying, dappley-lit configurations a light warm breeze through which results in an mesmerizing shifting shadow play when top lit by a hot sun. Ahhh, that’s tropical. Photo: Banana palm leaves.

Chris Hunter is a fairly young nurseryman but a long-time fan of tropical plants. He and his fiancée Courtney Paulson are co-owners of Magnolia Gift & Garden in Chico and co-gardeners of a home garden that has trialed many tropical plants: some with a sad outcome, others - the ones discussed shortly - with a very happy outcome. “We have used our garden as a botanical science lab and most of the plants we sell we have grown,” Chris assures me. Chris has worked at nurseries in the Bay area as well as here in the North State. More than 6 years ago now he began working at what was then Zamora’s and which subsequently became Chico Creek Gardens, owned by well-known local plantsman Mike Thiede. Courtney began working at Zamora’s more than 8 years ago and early this year, Chris and Courtney bought the nursery and re-named it Magnolia Gift & Garden. Photo: Courtney and Chris near one of the tropical beds at Magnolia Gift & Garden. (more…)

Who does not love a wildflower? While not every wildflower enthusiast is a gardener, every gardener I know is a wildflower enthusiast at some level.

I chatted recently with Linnea Hanson, former Forest Botanist and now Ecosystems Manager for the Plumas National Forest and Chris Christofferson, District Botanist for the Forest about the enduring appeal of wildflowers. “I am just a sucker for a pretty face – who isn’t?” said Chris, “wildflowers sport fabulous blooms and so many of them smell so great! I can’t resist them.” Linnea went on to say “The spring wildflower bloom is so exciting – when you have lived in the same area for a long time, you mark your internal seasonal clock by the wildflowers’ blooming – it’s like seeing old friends again and as you walk or drive through the region you want to call out – ‘Oh hi! the Tidy tips are out’ or ‘Look – the fiddleheads have returned!’ And it makes you happy.” Photo: Fiddlenecks (Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia in March.)

Wildflowers start to bloom in force in the lower elevations of our region in late February early-March and keep on going through June, July and August in the higher elevations. According to Julie Nelson, Forest Botanist for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, “The low elevation stuff is popping. Clikapudi Trail on the south side of Shasta Lake has beaucoup shooting stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii), hound’s tongue (Cynoglossum grande, one of my all time favorites), goldback fern (Pentagramma triangularis), osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis) and toothwort (Cardamine californica) to name a few.” Photo: Coast Boykinia (Boykinia occidentalis).

Perhaps one of the reasons we love wildflowers is that they are not necessarily easy to grow or desirable in your home garden, and so their beauty is that much more fleeting and precious. With this in mind, as wildflower season continues, make sure to follow the commonsense rules best summarized as: “Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footsteps – and those should generally be on the trail!” Further, pay attention and be observant so that you can avoid encounters that might detract from your wildflower viewing: always bring water, sunscreen, good shoes and appropriate clothing - raincoat, hat, gloves, etc. Keep your eyes open for poison oak and spring creatures such as rattlesnakes and bears that might be waking up. Photo: Buttercup (Ranunculus)

Finally, while picking wildflowers might be your first instinct, think again and leave the flowers where they are to bring beauty to the next viewers, feed the pollinators and continue to build the plant communities we love. If you want to have some of these gorgeous plants and flowers for yourself, purchase them from a reputable seller or grower such as your local garden center or nursery or better yet at one of our regional California Native Plant Society Plant Sale fundraisers, such as the Mt. Lassen chapter’s Wildflower Art Show and Plant Sale in Chico on April 19th. Photo: Douglas Lupine (Lupinus nanus).

Look through the events, classes, workshops and good wildflower viewing sites listed below and - Let the Show Begin!

Upcoming Events and Classes: (Listed chronologically)

o Shasta College Class Wildflowers of California (BOT 50 Section 2343) March 16 through April 27, Mondays, 6:00-8:50 pm. Learn to identify our local wildflowers along with examining their structural characteristics. Two field trips are planned to observe these beautiful flowers in their natural settings and to reinforce sight identification. Instructor: James Nelson. For more info: http://www.shastacollege.edu/cms.aspx?id=435 Photo: A single Buttercup (Ranunculus) on a rocky outcropping.

o Friends of the Chico Herbarium Name that Wildflower! Workshop, March 28th, led by Linnea Hanson and Jenny Marr. Will include some classroom instruction and some field work around Horseshoe Lake in Upper Bidwell Park, Chico. Students might see Twining Brodiaea (Dichelostemma volubile), Lupine Bicolor (Lupinus bicolor), Yellow Violets (Viola praemorsa), Ithuriel’s spear (Triteleia laxa), Yellow Carpet (Blennosperma nannum) and goldfields (Lasthenia californica). For the $35 entrance fee you get a full day of training AND the Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers of the Pacific States - an outstanding value. For more info: http://www.csuchico.edu/biol/Herb/Events.htmlPhoto: Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum) in Chico’s Upper Bidwell Park in March.

o General Meeting for the Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, - April 2nd, 7:30 pm. Chris Christofferson will present a talk on Burning Bear Grass for California Indian Basketweavers. Butte County Library, Chico. More info: Gerry Ingco: 530-893-5123.

o 3rd Annual Wildflower & Nature Festival at Riverbend Park in Oroville April 4th & 5th, 10 – 4 pm each day. This two day festival will feature educational booths and tables hosted by the agencies whose task it is to manage the many land resources in our region – including education people about wildflowers and helping viewers to better enjoy and protect these treasures. Guided hikes on Table Mountain and to Feather Falls will be offered as well as Plant Sales, Wildlife Art, Barbeque and much more. And I have heard that Smokey the Bear just might be there! For more info: http://www.frrpd.com/index_files/WFF.htm. Photo: Iconic California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) blooming along a roadway in Chico in March.

o Mount Lassen Chapter of the CNPS Wildflower Plant Sale and Art Show! April 19th CARD CENTER, CHICO, 10 am – 4 pm. Mount Lassen Chapter of the CNPS Wildflower Plant Sale and Art Show! is the major Biennial Fundraiser for the Mount Lassen chapter of the CNPS. Over 200 species of plants from local plant communities will be labeled and on display for you to see. Deb Yau, owner of Native Springs Nursery in Yankee Hill, is in charge of the Native Plant Sale aspect of this event and tells me “This is a sale NOT to miss. It will feature treasures grown by members and local nurseries – things you wont see other places. You will be able to grow in your own garden some of the gorgeous wildflowers you love in the wild – and you will be supporting your garden’s diversity, the Mount Lassen chapter of CNPS, and native plant and pollinator populations! It’s a win-win-win.” The Native Plant Art Show will feature photographs, paintings and other art by regional artists depicting the wildflowers of our region. Educational Displays will have information about invasive and rare plants. Books, posters, t-shirts, and more will be for sale. Plant Experts will be on hand for your enjoyment and Nature Walks, and Children’s Activities will round out the activities. For more info Contact: Ellen Copeland: 530-345-1826. Photo: California Fuschia (Epilobium canum; syn. Zauschneria californica) at the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens in August.

o Cal Native Plant Soc Mt. Lassen Chapter General Meeting May 2, 7:30 pm with presentation on Managing Rare Plant Communities on Serpentine outcrops with Linnea Hanson. Butte County Library, Chico. More info: Gerry Ingco: 530-893-5123. Photo: Pipevine (Aristolochia californica) in bloom in lower Bidwell Park in Chico in February.

Good wildflower viewing sites throughout the season include: (generally listed moving from the south to the north)

➢ Table Mountain, which is in full swing now through April, and Feather Falls, which is just beginning now but should be in full swing in April, are both near Oroville and are great walk/hikes open to the public year round. Follow these links for maps and hike descriptions: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/publications/pdfs/hiking/fr_featherfalls_infomap.pdf; http://www.calphoto.com/clcwl/table.pdf Photo: Wild Cucumber or Common Manroot (Marah fabaceus) twines through grass and scrub.

➢ Near Lake Oroville, The Potter’s Ravine Trail should be in bloom now through April and early May.

➢ Lumpkin Ridge Road – further up in the Plumas-National Forest and east of Oroville, west of Quincy – should be in full-bloom in May and “The Harlequin Lupine (Lupinus stiversii) will knock your socks off,” Chris Christofferson said.

➢ Rim Road above Concow is a rare plant community habitat on serpentine outcroppings and is a good place to watch fire recovery in action after last year’s fires. Photo: Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) along a damp embankment in late February.

➢ Magalia – all along the Skyway provides great views over wildflower meadows and oak habitat.

➢ Bidwell Park in Chico: Horsehoe Lake and Trails in Upper Bidwell Park as well as most of Lower Bidwell park as well will be good wildflower viewing March – early May.

➢ Vina Plains Preserve is managed by the Nature Conservancy and they often host wildflower tours in spring. The site is home to more than 280 species of plants and you should see Adobe Lily (Fritillaria pluriflora). Because Vina Plains Preserve is a working ranch, it is open to the public on a very limited basis. For more information, call (530) 527-4261. Photo: Butter and Eggs (Triphysaria eriantha) blooming en masse in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico in March.

➢ The Sacramento River Bend Area, just north of Red Bluff, offers spectacular wildflower displays throughout the spring. Vast vistas of yellow and purple fields are common during a springtime hike along the Yana trail. Contact the Redding Field Office at (530) 224-2100 for more information.

➢ Sacramento River Trail in and around Redding – runs through part of the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens.

➢ Shasta Lake Clikapudi Trail on the south side of Shasta Lake is a good place to watch fire recovery in action–it burned several years ago in the Bear Fire. Here’s a link to a trail map:http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity/documents/st-main/maps/rogs/shasta-lake/trails.pdf. Photo: Tidy tips (Layia fremontii) in March.

➢ Blue Door Flat - northeast California, south of Alturas. “The Blue Door Flat area provides an interesting area to watch waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds, as well as colorful wildflowers…in spring the meadow provides a fantastic array of color…” Contact the Alturas Field Office at (530) 233-4666.

➢ Later in the season, Waters Gulch and Squaw Valley Creek are good–see
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/WatersGulch/index.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/SquawValley/index.shtml Photo: Star-Lily (Zigadenus fremontii).

➢ Also later in the season - Bunker Hill Ridge on the Pacific Crest Trail should be in full bloom June/July. The trail around Little Grass Valley Reservoir provides a great view of the lake and the wildflowers in June/July.

Good resources:

Some great resources for learning about and identifying Wildflowers include the USDA Forest Service’s on-line resource Celebrating Wildflowers with in-depth discussions of issues facing wildflowers and other native plants, Children’s activities and Teaching resources – check it out: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers Photo: Butter and Eggs (Triphysaria eriantha), Star-Lily (Zigadenus fremontii) and intermittent Tidy tips (Layia fremontii) light up a damp March meadow in the North State.

Many good books for about western and regional wildflowers are in publication – most of which are available at your local library, local books stores such as Lyons Books in Chico, and many should be available for purchase at the CNPS Mt. Lassen Chapter Wildflower Plant Sale and Art Show! On April 19th at the CARD center in Chico:

Peterson Field Guide Pacific States Wildflowers, Theodore F. Neihaus & Charles L. Ripper, Copyright 1998.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers Western Region, Richard Spellenberg, Copyright 2001 Knopf Publishing.

Wildflowers of Table Mountain, Butte County, California
 by Samantha Mackey and Albin Bills, illustrated by Larry Jansen,
Copyright 2004, CSU Chico Studies from the Herbarium.

Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties, California, Copyright 2007, Redbud Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

In a North State Garden is a radio- and web-based outreach program of the Northern California Natural History Museum, in Chico, Calif. The mission of In a North State Garden is to celebrate the art, craft and science of home gardening in California’s North State region. The program is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved. To read more from In A North State Garden or to listen to the podcasts aired on Northstate Public Radio KCHO/KFPR radio, click on jewellgarden.com. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is positively North State.

Warm, smoky, mouth-watering and full-bodied. That was the dominant sensory experience on a walk around Nancy Heinzel and Brian Marshall’s market garden, Sawmill Creek Farm, in late summer. The entire garden was scented with the heady aroma of Hungarian peppers smoking over hickory chips at one end of the garden.

Nancy Heinzel and Brian Marshall are truly avid gardeners. That love and passion became much of their livelihood, “like all good things, by accident!” says Brian, “about 10 years ago,” when they decided to allow their 1-acre garden to continue on its ever-expanding way and become not just their garden but an outstanding market garden. Today, Nancy tends to the farm as her full-time job and Brian pitches in half time, his other half-time is spent as landscape designer and installer. Much of the goods from the farm are grown to sell at various markets around the area – including the Chico Thursday night Market and the Saturday Market in Oroville, April to November.
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