Within even a small area like Central Contra Costa, CA one can find a variety of different wildflowers depending on the Landscape conditions including height , sun exposure and location. Here, we feature , first, mostly mustard of the lower canal trail and then mostly Poppies of higher Lafayette Ridge as well as Mt. DIABLO and, just added CHINA CAMP, San Rafael (scroll to bottom)
Here along the Contra Costa canal trail just beyond Heather farms park in Walnut Creek We still found quite a bit of mustard dotting the trail landscape as we skated Towards Lime ridge and Concord. … And not only traditional yellow mustard but multicolors including white and blue. We were surprised to still see so much mustard as late as April as compared to Napa, less than an hour away, where the mustard is pretty much gone by April.Hanging wisteria and perhaps yellow Honeycups(?) add to the spring splendor along the canal trail near Oak Grove Rd. And more resplendent mustard as we near Lime Ridge As we elevate We start losing the mustard but gain Poppies like this little cluster Among the water works And a little bit more musterd as we dipped down in elevationWhile Supplies Last… A few times every week our team will pick a few popular plants and drastically reduce the price. Don’t miss these great promotions. And some new multicolored small wild flowers and some lupens as We approached the tunnelinside the trail tunnel More wysteria and mustard come together as we approach walnut road.Ducks enjoying the water as we run out of film, er, battery. No more mustard but some more Poppies were enjoyed in the final stages of our. 5 mile circular canal trail ride
10 minutes north west…
Lafayette Ridge: A couple thousand feet of elevation we found very little mustard but Poppies popping up everywhere on Lafayette Ridge trail – Approach from Scout Road or Acalanes Staging Area. With Mt. Diablo in background.Lupens try to compete with poppies Carpet of tiny blue flowers.lush loads of lupensMt. DIABLO in distanceLafayette Reservoir in distanceAnd more Poppies
panoramic shot
Delayed wildflowers this year due to colder winter but hard to predict per kqed forum feature>
less common find: a whitish wildflower covers some hillsides on Mt. DIABLOdifferent exposure of mt. DIABLO wild flowersand, as mentioned, more Poppies at higher elevations, here along Mt. DIABLO MAIN ROAD IN Walnut Creekalmost 1,000 feet up Mt. DIABLO On Walnut Creek side
Lupens are plentiful along lower ranges of Mt DIABLO, HERE not far beyond Northgate entrance. Lupen ‘bush’…and Poppies never seem to be far from LUPENS,apparently favoriting similar climate and elevations
A little side trip to BRIONES Eastbay Regional Park off Bear Creek Rd and some dazzling Lupens
China Camp , San Rafael
Not far from the famous Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Rafael. It’s just a hidden gem of a park called china camp.
We found some totally different wildflowers in the North-west Bay , China Camp area , to compared to the East Bay areas above. Can you help us name any of these beauties, other than the tried and true poppies
**Check out the I naturalist app –seek app -will tell name of plants per Calif native plant society Plus birds etc**
Best places for Wildflowers ( we are told):
Briones, China camp, Diablo state park, *Sunol Regional – little yosemite (and Waterfalls) *Anderson valley, Marin Pacifica Laurie Point trails- lupen set
West of patterson Mariposa Sonoma coast cordon trail near goat rock in jenner Lands end SF Fairfax cascades canyon Sugarloaf ridge waterfall nr Kenwood and trails Gunfire rock or ballasts man views
Also Santa Clara , San Bruno, edgewood, pulgas, alum rock
popular wildflowers:
Poppies- 13 species, lupens, goldenseal, white meadowfoam, fiddleneck, but fewer species than last year Because cold winter held back some.
According to KQED forum program,Let’s Go Chasing Waterfalls (and Wildflowers,) above, the Bay Area is One of few global areas that offers such Wildflowers and this year MAY CONTINUE LATER INTO YEAR
