Blackberry Dreamin'

When I grow up I’m gonna be a BLACKBERRY!

Perfume My Garden

Rosa - Blush Noisette 

Hiding in Plain Sight - Sneaky!

Perfume My Garden

Summer Previews: First Wild Rose of the Year

Pulgas Ridge, Mid-Penninsula Open Space, San Carlos CA

Magnolia: Nature's Origami

Ever since I watched The Oragami Revolution on PBS...

I've started seeing my favorite flowers differently!

Hiking Windy Hill - California Buckye In Bloom

California Buckeye is in business on Windy Hill * serving up fragrant blooms to hikers, native bees and butterflies, like the Pale Swallowtail butterfly. This shrubby tree, found over much of the Western United States, is a great wilderness plant counted on by many natives. Before European contact, it was also a food source for native peoples, following an extensive toxic leaching process.

It's not a good neighbor in the  suburbs, however,  since there it may come into contact with non-native bees. That's because it's pollen, though extremely appealing to the European immigrant bees, is toxic to them.

So . . . we love it, but we don't plant it.
*Windy Hill is close to - Silicon Valley, Within the San Francisco Bay Area , is  nearby the 280 freeway

On my Flower-Lovin' Hiker's Bookshelf

              

First Signs of Spring in Atherton

Before I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, I associated magnolias with the American South. Magnolias grow and bloom like crazy around here too, they love the mild Mediterranean climate. I especially enjoy these blossoms every year, when they pop up in front of the tiny Atherton Library.

Crazed Blooms - Hidden Souls

Early Spring Sings At The Creek

Sixties Children Tune

Cream Cups - Ideal for Fairies

Platystemon californicus - Cream Cups

Poppy heritage
Local fairies dwell herein
Cream cups shine in spring
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Fairy Housing http://www.hikingedgewood.blogspot.com/2012/11/fairy-houses.html

Fairy House, Tood's Stool or Spoor's End http://www.hikingedgewood.blogspot.com/2013/11/fairy-house-toad-stool-or-simply-spoors.html

Edgewood http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Co-published with Hiking Edgewood and The Simple Romantic Travels Through Time

The Wake-Robin: Three is Magic (Hiking Windy Hill)

Trillium or Wake-Robin

Spring is, indeed, bustin' out all over at Windy Hill Preserve in the Mid-Penninsula Regional Open Space.

An encounter with the three perfect white petals and trinity of glossy leaves in this small white trillium, or Wake-Robin, is a great way to exit the day-to-day and head for another realm.

When it comes to trilliums, it's easy to accept that three really is a magic number.

Primrosing CA Style

Primrose rises smaller

then other garden flowers.

But just so hope blooms.

Amaryllis: Sure Fire January Blues Reliever

With vacation from work and school well past, and several months of wet or cold to get through in the Northern Hemisphere, it's easy to get the blues in January.

A candy-striped amaryllis bud opening suddenly in a chilly window, reminds me that a good dose of spring time is just around the corner.

Anybody can bloom  in an unexpected place.