Fall Color Report – Page 109 – California Fall Color

LA County Arboretum Puts On Its Holiday Best

Crepe myrtle, Historic Section, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Peacock Cafe, LA Arboretum & Botanic Gardens, Arcadia (12/13/16) Frank McDonough

Daimyo oak, quercus dentata LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

A road less traveled, near Tule Pond, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Entrance area, LA County Arboretum & Botanic Gardens, Arcadia (12/13/16) Frank McDonough

Entrance Rotunda, LA County Arboretum & Botanic Gardens, Arcadia (12/13/16) Frank McDonough

Liquidambar, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Gingko biloba, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Crescent Garden near Turtle Pond, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Paperwhites, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Gingko biloba, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Liquidambar and red maple, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Eastern white oak, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/8/16) Frank McDonough

Fall color is nearing peak at Southern California’s arboretums and botanic gardens, with some species peaking while others are near peak.

Frank McDonough of the LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden reports the color is “still kicking” in Arcadia, where Eastern white oak, liquidambar, red maple, daimyo oak, American sycamore and crepe myrtle continue to show deep crimson, orange and red.

Gingko biloba are still patchy, though rapidly approaching peak. Their canopies fan-shaped leaves hang heavy from twisted branches with a drape of lime to yellow color.

Frank captured a “winner, winner, chicken dinner” shot, only this one was a slice of peacock pie taken at the Peacock Cafe stairs. His comment?… “Photo ready – just add peacock.”

This week, we retweeted a photograph of fall color seen at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge and plan a followup report on natural and nighttime illuminated color to be seen at these gardens, during the holidays.

LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

December 13, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, First Report, Orange County

First Report: Orange County Lives Up To Its Name

City of Orange (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

Orange County (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

Orange County is living up to its name, with orange leaves adding late autumn color to the season.

Chapman University, Orange (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

City of Orange (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

Son Nguyen visited Chapman University in the City of Orange to find its foliage at peak.

No wonder we rarely get reports from Orange County. Son’s First Report shows that it peaks in December (hand slap to forehead)!

Orange County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

December 13, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, High Sierra

Yosemite: Snow White, Fairytale Forest

Dead pines, Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Lower Yosemite Fall, Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Lower Yosemite Fall, Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

Yosemite Valley (11/28/16) Tracy Zhou

When snow falls in Yosemite Valley when there’s still fall color on the black oak, a fairytale forest appears.

Tracy Zhou captured it yesterday, during a visit to Yosemite Valley where the past weekend’s dusting of snow contrasts beautifully with the last leaves of autumn on the valley’s black oak.

Sadly, some of the color is provided by dead pine trees (killed by bark beetles as a result of the past four years of drought) whose lifeless orange needles still hang to the branches… lovely though discouraging.

Yosemite Valley – Peak to Past Peak – YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!

November 29, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, North Coast

Avenue of the Giants – Still Giant

Avenue of the Giants (11/26/16) Son H Nguyen

Avenue of the Giants, US 101 (11/26/16) Son H Nguyen

Bigleaf maple, Avenue of the Giants (11/26/16) Son H Nguyen

Eel River, US 101 (11/26/16) Son H Nguyen

Can you believe it?

We couldn’t until we saw these pictures sent by Son H Nguyen.

He spent the Thanksgiving Day weekend along the North Coast and returned with these shots of lingering color beside US 101, the Avenue of the Giants.

There’s even some lime among the coastal redwoods.

And, bigleaf maple are showing atypical color… not just yellow, but rust, lime and gold.

Nguyen’s photos show riparian color beside an Eel River that is swollen with muddy water from recent storms.

In a word, “Gigantic.”

Avenue of the Giants – Peak to Past Peak – YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!

November 29, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Statewide, Video

California Fall Color Looks Back at 2016

On this Thanksgiving Day, CaliforniaFallColor.com is thankful to every color spotter and photographer who contributed photographs and reports in 2016.

They include (from first turned leaf reported): LA Leaf Peeper, Darrell Sano, Alena Nicholas, Sandy Steinman, Sweetshade Lane, Chuck Eads, Josh Wray, Anirudh Natekar, Carolyn Webb, Jill Donald, Mark Finan, Eileen Javora, Don Vilfer, Greg Newbry, Jeff Simpson, Jared Smith, Krisdina Karady, Leslie Morris, Shanda Ochs, Gary Young, Dave Olden, Kimberly Kolafa, Clayton Peoples, John Caffrey, Alicia Vennos, Kimberly Wilkes, Bob Weaver, Robert Provin, Sharon Roberts, Debbi Waldear, John Natelli, Vince Piercey, Kevin Lennox, Tim Fesko, Phillip Reedy, Elliott McGucken, Becky, Scott Turner, Naresh Satyan, Max Forster, Mark DeVitre, Daniel Stas, Mike Nellor, Leor Pantilat, Kevin Rose, Julie Kirby, Gigi deJong, Michael Caffey, Abhi Bhaskaran, Andrew Zheng, Laura Zirino, Jan Davies, Jeri Rangel, Lorissa Soriano, Carol Novacek, Nancy Wright, Janet Fullwood, Jim Van Matre, Jeff Luke Titcomb, Marc Hoshovsky, Gene Miller, Raymond Pangilinan, Crys Black, Jeff Hemming, Michael Beatley, Maggie Huang, Wendy Zhou, Danny Hu, Susan Taylor, Tracy Zhou, Gabriel Leete, Frank McDonough, William Croce, Son H Nguyen, Skandar Reid, Dennis Hayes, Anson Davalos, and Ron Tyler, who produced the above video.

We’re also grateful to the many readers who posted photos and reports to our Facebook page (including: Brian Wong, Dave Butler, Pardhiv Kani, Jeff Guillory, Nancy Barron Booher, Mark Grover, Kathy Jonokuchi, Vera Fuad, Cory Poole, Sara Stillwell, Peter Stair, Front St. Media, JT Humphrey, Ray McLaughlin, Rose Comstock, Daklak Foto, Mark Spicer, Tracey Lee Brown, Joel Rathje, Connie Ostlund Varvais, Susan Walker Bell, Cristi Lanepa and Stephen Dietrich) and those who retweeted our Twitter posts (you are too numerous to name).

Special thanks are expressed to Inyo County Tourism, Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, Mono County Tourism, Mammoth Lakes Tourism, Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association, and The California Parks Company for underwriting California Fall Color, and to the many reporters and media who carried our reports and gave attention to what we have shown about California’s fall color.

This list is incomplete without mentioning Joan, my wife, who has researched plant species in reference books; driven the car, pulling it over to the shoulder at my whim, so that I could jump out to photograph a particularly beautiful location; humored my recording of color percentages, species and elevations; pointed out particularly beautiful color; and tolerated my exuberance in excitedly showing her wonderful photographs taken by contributors.

Of course, our deepest thanks go to the many tens of thousands of people who have followed CaliforniaFallColor.com here and on our Facebook and Twitter pages. You are, after all, the reason we do this.

If we missed thanking you here, please know it wasn’t intentional. CaliforniaFallColor.com is indebted to every color spotter, photographer and commenter. Thank you all.

Autumn doesn’t end on Thanksgiving Day. It continues for nearly a month longer. We’ll continue to post photos and reports as received. Though today, we begin to dial back reports, posting them less frequently. We have also stopped issuing weekly reports to California TV meteorologists, travel and outdoor writers.

So, enjoy Thanksgiving Day. See you next autumn, dude.

California (Peak 75-100%) GO NOW! – In our hearts, California is always peaking.

November 24, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, San Francisco Bay Area

Botanical Friday

Japanese maple, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (11/20/16) Sandy Steinman

Fall color has now descended to see level. See it at the state’s botanical gardens this week.

Erica bauera, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (11/20/16) Sandy Steinman

Forget-me-not, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (11/20/16) Sandy Steinman

Erica glandulosa, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (11/20/16) Sandy Steinman

Bay Area naturalist and color spotter Sandy Steinman visited the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley to find it filled with late blooming South African flowers.

One could almost be convinced that they’re still on a southern hemisphere springtime calendar, from their November blooms. Nah.

Beautyberries, callicarpa mollis, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (11/20/16) Sandy Steinman

The Botanic garden was also full of irridescent Japanese maples, and our favorite ornaments of the season… Beautyberries.

Japanese maple, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (11/20/16) Sandy Steinman

If you’re going this week, the garden closes at 2 p.m. on Wed. and will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

But then, for fall color shopping pleasure, it reopens the following day, which we call “Orange Friday” (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) or should we call it “Botanical Friday,” ’cause it sure ain’t black.

UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

November 21, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, North Coast

Fall Color in the Fog

Napa Valley (11/19/16) Darrell Sano

Fall color intensifies in flat, overcast light, created by a foggy or rainy sky.

Oakland color spotter Darrell Sano was up in the Napa Valley yesterday, as rain swept across Northern California.

He returned with these bright images of fresh green grass and fully turned grape leaves, scenes similar to what Tracy Zhou captured during the previous week’s storm.

Darrell found the “intense, lush green that now blankets the vineyard floor” to be “striking” and contrasting “with what’s left of the reds and yellows on the vines.”

High winds lashed parts of the north state, though wind only strips what was ready to fall.

Leaves in the process of ascission often remain hanging.

Clouds and fog that “hung low among the trees… never did provide definition beyond a gray “softbox” of a sky. Nevertheless, the scenery was beautiful, subdued, and introspective.”

Darrell found beauty by searching “the many dead-end lanes that are perpendicular to the highly trafficked route 29 and Silverado Trail.”

Napa Valley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

November 20, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Peak of the Week, Shasta Cascade

Peak of the Week: Making Room for Schrooms

Pluteus spp (11/15/16) Gabriel Leete

Bolbitus titubans (11/15/16) Gabriel Leete

Ink cap [Corinus lagopus] (11/15/16) Gabriel Leete

honey mushroom [Armillaria mellea] (11/15/16) Gabriel Leete

Deadly Galerina [Galerina marginata] (11/15/16) Gabriel Leete

False turkey tail [Stereum ostrea] (11/15/16) Gabriel Leete

Gabriel Leete makes room for mushrooms in autumn.

The Shasta Cascade color spotter enjoys searching the woods for edible and otherwise fascinating mushrooms.

He sends back these images taken this week near Anderson. Recent rains have helped encourage mushroom hunting in the Shasta Cascade, which we declare to be Peak of the Week.

Gabriel writes (drawing text from Wikipedia searches for his descriptions) that the Pluteus are wood-decomposing saprobes with gills that are free from the stem and pink spore prints. These were found growing upon wood chips.

Bolbitius titubans, also known as Bolbitius vitellinus, is a widespread specie of inedible mushroom found in American and Europe. It grows primarily on dung or heavily fertilized soil, sometimes on grass.

Ink cap (Coprinus lagopus) is a specie of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is a delicate and short-lived fungus, the fruit bodies lasting only a few hours before dissolving into a black ink – a process called deliquescence.

Armillaria mellea, commonly known as honey fungus, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Armillaria. It is a plant pathogen and part of a cryptic species complex of closely related and morphologically similar species.

Deadly Galerina is exactly as described… it is poisonous. Galerina marginata is a specie of poisonous mushroom in the family Hymenogatraceae of the order Agaricales. The specie is a classic “little brown mushroom“—a catchall category that includes all small to medium-sized, hard-to-identify brownish mushrooms, and may be easily confused with several edible species.

False turkey tail looks like one, doesn’t it? That’s because of the concentric circles of many colors seen on the Stereum ostrea specie. This variety is a wood decay fungus that grows on tree bark. Native to North America, it grows year round.

Caution: do not eat wild mushrooms, unless you are expert at identifying them, as many poisonous varieties resemble their edible cousins.

Mushroom Hunting, Shasta Cascade – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

[forecast location=”Redding, CA” numdays=”4″ showdata=”daynames,icon,date,conditions,highlow” layout=”simple”]

November 17, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, High Sierra

Mountain Ash Peaking at Tahoe

American mountain ash, Incline Village, NV (11/14/16) John Poimiroo

American mountain ash (Sorbus americana), a tree that is native to New England and eastern Canada, is peaking at Incline Village, NV.

The exotic has compound, odd-pinnate leaves of a bright yellow and gold color right now, and carries large bundles of berries that will last through winter.

While the native stands of aspen, dogwood, bigleaf maple and cottonwood are past peak at Lake Tahoe, landscaped forests are on a different fall color cycle, with mountain ash providing eye-catching color in mid November in neighborhoods near the Sierra Nevada College campus and the Hyatt Lake Tahoe.

[forecast location=”Incline Village, NV” numdays=”4″ showdata=”daynames,icon,date,conditions,highlow” layout=”simple”]

November 16, 2016/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Inland Empire

SoCal Mountains: Past Peak, Still Glowing in Places

Lake Arrowhead (11/12/16) Alena Nicholas

We’ve been reporting that Southern California’s mountains are past peak, though as color spotter Alena Nicholas shows us in this post… many spots of bright color can still to be discovered.

Lake Arrowhead (11/12/16) Alena Nicholas

She traveled to Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory in the San Bernardino Mountains and Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains to find these scenes.

Lake Arrowhead (11/12/16) Alena Nicholass

Lake Arrowhead (11/12/16) Alena Nicholas

Idyllwild (11/12/16) Alena Nicholas

Lake Gregory (11/12/16) Alena Nicholas

While the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa prepares for the holidays by putting up colorful lights and decorations, nature continues to light up the forest with black oak and Rocky Mountain maple providing orange and red ornaments.

Should you visit Lake Arrowhead, stop into the Gift Gallery to see Alena’s photographs. We extend the same invitation to other photographers and color spotters who contribute your work to this site. Should you have them on display, tell us and we’ll pass the word to others so they can see what you’ve seen and photographed.

Alena agrees that the mountains are generally past peak, but for the observant the glow continues.

Southern California Mountains – Peak to Past Peak – YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!

[forecast location=”Lake Arrowhead, CA” numdays=”4″ showdata=”daynames,icon,date,conditions,highlow” layout=”simple”]

November 13, 2016/2 Comments/by John Poimiroo

LA County Arboretum Puts On Its Holiday Best

First Report: Orange County Lives Up To Its Name

Yosemite: Snow White, Fairytale Forest

Avenue of the Giants – Still Giant

California Fall Color Looks Back at 2016

Botanical Friday

Fall Color in the Fog

Peak of the Week: Making Room for Schrooms

Mountain Ash Peaking at Tahoe

SoCal Mountains: Past Peak, Still Glowing in Places

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