Fall Color Report – Page 117 – California Fall Color

Orange Friday

Sutter St., Folsom (11/25/15) John Poimiroo

While shoppers are lined up at big box stores looking for deals on Black Friday, color spotters are out finding fall color on this Orange Friday.

I found it along historic Folsom’s Sutter Street where ginkgo biloba are painted yellow, orange and green.

Santhakumar VA found it at Far Niente Winery in Oakville where ginkgos are heavy with gold and orange leaves and vines are ruby, orange and gold.

Santha had visited the Napa Valley last week. He reports that while leaves are falling, there are so many on the vines and trees, that the show still goes on.

Similarly, Jennifer Mellone sends photos taken of the Bennett Valley and Dry Creek wine regions of Sonoma County where vines are boldly colored and birds are feasting in the vineyards.

Color spotter Anirudh Natikar shares these images of the landscaped color to be seen along Paseo Santa Cruz, near Valley Avenue in Pleasanton, where hot orange, deep red, and fluorescent yellow mix with green.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – All elevations below 1,000′

Dry Creek region, Sonoma County (11/27/15) Jennifer Mellone

Bennett Valley region, Sonoma County (11/28/15) Jennifer Mellone

Far Niente Winery, Oakville (11/26/15) Santhakumar V A

Napa Valley (11/26/15) Santhakumar V A

Pleasanton (11/25/15) Anirudh Natekar

November 27, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Statewide

California Fall Color Looks Back at 2015

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On this Thanksgiving Day, CaliforniaFallColor.com is indebted to every color spotter and photographer who contributed photographs and reports in 2015.

They include (from first turned leaf reported): LA Leaf Peeper, Alicia Vennos, Jon Klusmire, Alena Nicholas, Trapper Felt, Carol Waller, Christine Osborne, Julie Yost, Crys Black, Nikhil Shahi, Misti Sullivan, Kevin Lennox, Ashley Hollgarth, Jen Heger, Kimberly Kolafa, Julie Kirby, Aditi Das, Jeff Hemming, Erick Castellon, Shanda Ochs, Jackson Frishman, Cuong Diep, Maddie Noiseaux, Leor Pantilat, Lara Kaylor, Jeff Simpson, Clayton Peoples, Lisa Wilkerson-Willis, Phillip Reedy Ruth Hartman, Charles Porter, Greg Newbry, Elliot McGucken, Jared Smith, Dotty Molt, Sherry Gardner, Jill Dinsmore, Josh Wray, Mike Nellor, Ivan Alo, Pushkar Gejji, Mariusz Jeglinski, Gary Young, Patricia Costa, Lisa May, Laurie Baker, Shuo Li, Dylan Ren, Brian Patterson, David Olden, Gabriel Leete, Jeri Rangel, Jim Beaux, Cory Poole, Walter Gabler, Max Forster, Jim Adams, Jeff Luke Titcomb, Nancy Wright, Bonnie Nordby, Kathy Jonokuchi, Linnea Wahamaki, Sarah Showalter, Vera Haranto Fuad, Jas E Miner, Susan Taylor, Santhakumar V A, Darrell Sano, Frank McDonough, Anson Davalos, Sandy Steinman, Anirudh Natikar, Jennifer “JMel” Mellone and Ron Tyler, who produced the above video.

We’re also grateful to the many hundreds of readers who posted comments and photos to our Facebook page and retweeted our Twitter posts. If we missed thanking you here, please know it wasn’t intentional. We we are indebted to every color spotter, photographer and commenter. Thank you all.

Additional thanks are expressed to Inyo County Tourism, 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 thank you list is incomplete without mentioning Joan, my wife, who has: humored my recording of color percentages, species and elevations; pointed out particularly beautiful color; and driven the car and pulled it over to the shoulder, at my whim, so that I could jump out to photograph a particularly beautiful location.

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

Autumn doesn’t end on Thanksgiving Day. It has 26 more days to go. We’ll continue to post photos and reports as received and plan a Special Report on San Diego County. Though today, we begin to dial back our reports, posting them less frequently. We also stop sending weekly reports to California TV meteorologists, travel and outdoor writers.

So, enjoy Thanksgiving Day, and we’ll see you next autumn, dude.

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

November 26, 2015/6 Comments/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Inland Empire

Big Bear: Beautiful Along The Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle, SB Mountains (11/24/15) Alena Nicholas

You’d think that a place called “The Arctic Circle” would be austere and foreboding. Not so along the drive called “The Arctic Circle” near Big Bear where black oak speckle the forest with bright splotches of orange.

Seen in San Bernardino Mountains color correspondent Alena Nicholas’ photograph, Big Bear Lake peeks between the layered, sensuous curves of the San Bernardino Mountains, its blue waters beckoning travelers to the pleasures beyond.

Big Bear Lake (11/24/15) Alena Nicholas

Big Bear (11/24/15) Alena Nicholas

This week’s storm shook about a third of the leaves remaining on black oaks at Big Bear Lake and clinging to the ridges, though those nestled in the canyons seen from The Arctic Circle are still dressed in fall finery. With sunny to partly cloudy days predicted, the fall color should hang for a while, though it will drizzle away, slowly but surely.

Nevertheless, with skis and snowboards now cutting groomed corduroy on the slopes of Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, what titian tones remain in the forest, is almost a distraction to why motorists are now traveling The Arctic Circle to Big Bear. And, with fall color ebbing in the mountains, we’ve assigned Alena to search the southland for where else it might be found.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – The Arctic Circle and Big Bear Lake.

Arctic Circle, SB Mountains (11/24/15) Alena Nicholas

Black oak, Big Bear Lake (11/24/15) Alena Nicholas

November 25, 2015/1 Comment/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, San Francisco Bay Area

Berkeley: Where Bears Meet Beauty

American beautyberry, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/23/15) Sandy Steinman

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/23/15) Sandy Steinman

Berkeley is perhaps California’s most misrepresented city.

It’s more than the Cal Bears and the great university for which they play.

It’s more than the student demonstrations for which the university became famous.

And it’s more than the “People’s Republic of Berkeley,” the oft-said slight to the liberal city and how it is managed.

Berkeley is a wonderful place to visit:

for its beautiful residences, many of which are handsome examples of California Craftsman architecture;
for its many fascinating shops, which often feature quality handcrafts and fine arts; and
for its wealth of great restaurants, including Chez Panisse where kitchen artist Alice Waters conceived farm to fork cooking.

Though, it is in Berkeley’s gardens where bears meet beauty.

One of the state’s loveliest gardens is the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley.

Though it will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, a truly “Berkeley” way to experience Black Friday, would be to protest the day’s in-your-face consumerism and make it an Orange Friday at the Botanical Garden.

Sandy Steinman, editor of Natural History Wanderings and a longtime friend and gifted observer of all things natural, sent these images taken in the Asian Section of the garden, showing it at peak.

The layered colors of crimson and gold are impressive, though it was the royal purple American beautyberry, genus callicarpa, that made us stop to look it up.

Clearly, we’re bearish on Berkeley’s beauty.

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

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/23/15) Sandy Steinman

November 24, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, San Francisco Bay Area

Saratoga Sugars Up

Ginkgo biloba, Saratoga (11/23/15) Anson Davalos

Chinese pistache, Saratoga (11/23/15) Anson Davalos

Chinese pistache and hawthorne, Saratoga (11/23/15) Anson Davalos

Three weeks ago, Silicon Valley color spotter Anson Davalos sent images of downtown Saratoga as it developed color.

This week it was at peak sugar with bright yellow ginkgo biloba, fluorescent red and orange Chinese pistache, ruby and gold hawthorne and maroon flowering pears heavy with leaves.

No doubt, today’s rain and wind sprinkled Saratoga streets with leafy confetti, as it did across Northern California.

Still, a lot of the color will likely remain through the coming weekend. If you’re heading to the South Bay at Thanksgiving, best bets include: Saratoga, Los Gatos, Pine St. San Jose, Campbell and Los Altos.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Saratoga

Ginkgo biloba, Saratoga (11/23/15) Anson Davalos

Chinese pistache, Saratoga (11/23/15) Anson Davalos

November 24, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County

Going To Town in Los Angeles

Undisclosed Colorful Locale in Los Angeles (11/23/15) LA Leaf Peeper

Los Angeles color spotter “LA Leaf Peeper” (actual name withheld to prevent paparazzi from hounding this celebrity), reports that fall color is now “going to town” throughout the City of Angels.

LA Leaf Peeper has been the first anywhere in California to report fall color for the past two years and though this LA “star’s” reports are few, they include insights to the status of fall color in tinseltown.

We’re sure Extra, Inside Edition, the National Enquirer or TMZ will want to know that turned leaves are still hanging from the early-showing liquidambar that LA Leaf Peeper alerted us to in August. Though now, all LA’s deciduous trees are lit up brighter than the red carpet at the Dolby Theater on Oscar night.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Los Angeles

November 24, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Inland Empire

Orange Friday at Lake Gregory

Lake Gregory (11/22/15) Alena Nicholas

Ansel Adams got so many great photographs of Yosemite, not just because he was a great artist, but because he lived there.

Color spotter Alena Nicholas has shared many beautiful images of Lake Gregory this autumn, because she lives there.

Nicholas writes,”They say home is where the heart is, and after this weekend, I thought to share, once more, the beauty of my little “home” lake. It may not be Yosemite, the Eastern Sierras, or Northern California, but Lake Gregory always puts its best foot forward and shares whatever beauty it has to the very end!”

Big Bear (11/23/15) Nancy Barron Booher

That’s certainly true of what Alena showed us of Lake Gregory, this autumn. The sunsets there and from the nearby Rim of the World have been beautiful.

In the collection of photographs submitted by Alena, today, we see another aspect of fall in the San Bernardino Mountains… a forest full of deeply orange black oak at peak. Along shore, hints of yellow brighten the scene.

Alena traveled to Big Bear today where she likely saw scenes like this black oak, shot by Nancy Barron Booher and posted on our Facebook page.

With more snow predicted to arrive in the San Bernardinos on Wednesday and Thursday, Alena’s trip could be her last fall color outing this autumn.

Let’s hope this won’t be a Black Friday, but will still be orange.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Lake Gregory, Rim of the World and the San Bernardino Mountains

Lake Gregory (11/22/15) Alena Nicholas

November 23, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County

LA County Arboretum Nears Peak

Crepe Myrtle, LACArboretum (11/21/15) Frank McDonough

Sweet gum, red maple, Chinese tallow and San Gabriel Mountains, LAC Arboretum (11/22/15) Frank McDonough

Birch, LAC Arboretum (11/22/15) Frank McDonough

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mislabeled or just didn’t know what kind of tree appears in one of the photos posted on this site.

That’s why I enjoy visiting arboretums. At arboretums, trees are well-marked. The ones in nature don’t have a plaque at the base of their trunks with their common and latin names engraved on it. At an arboretum, they do.

I own several plant identification books, but visiting an arboretum shows me what the tree will really look like when it’s fully grown. “So, that’s what it means to be 70′ tall,” I’ve muttered to myself while looking at a tree I’d mistakenly thought would be right for my yard.

For anyone who loves trees, their great size, the beauty of their heavy, twisted branches, or how mature trees attract us to them, visiting an arboretum is endlessly fascinating.

California fan palm and ash, LAC Arboretum (11/22/15) Frank McDonough

Chinese tallow, LAC Arboretum (11/22/15) Frank McDonough

This week is the week to visit California’s arboretums. Their associated botanic gardens are mostly dormant, but the arboretums are full of color.

Frank McDonough reports the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia is nearing peak and should be prime for the next two weeks.

Seen among his photographs are delicately stemmed crepe myrtle, a variety of colorful trees taken from Myberg Falls toward the San Gabriel Mountains, birch draping a garden path, a California fan palm beside full peak ash, and Chinese tallow (also known as the Florida aspen).

California has nearly 20 arboretums, in nearly every corner of the state. All are beautiful places to find solace and to learn more about the native and exotic trees growing throughout our state. CLICK HERE for a list of them.

Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden

November 22, 2015/2 Comments/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, North Coast

Napa Valley: Perfectly Paired for Thanksgiving Day

Napa Valley (11/22/15) Darrell Sano

The Napa Valley is perfectly paired to provide beautiful fall color through Thanksgiving Day (conditions permitting). And, where do fall color photographers head on the weekend before Thanksgiving, when Tioga Pass is closed (and even if it weren’t, the color was gone from the Eastern Sierra weeks ago)? They head to wine country.

Napa Valley (11/22/15) Darrell Sano

Darrell Sano did just that and sends back this collection of beautiful photographs taken this morning of the Napa Valley at peak. He got up early to catch the morning light warming the vines as balloons floated across the valley in the crisp and still November air. Then, he followed the color, finding brilliant yellows and reds in the vineyards.

Oakville, Napa (11/21/15) Santha Kumar V A

Color spotter Santha Kumar V A was similarly satisfied after visiting Oakville, yesterday. He writes that it is “bursting golden.’ Santha tasted the golden color of a boulevard of ginkgo biloba trees beside rows of peaking yellow vines, in an image he calls, “Two Sides.”

During this season, indeed the Napa Valley has two sides: its full fall color and its full-flavored wines.

Color spotters Susan Taylor and Jas E Miner also found wine country to their taste, capturing vines and boulevards full of peak color in Napa and Sonoma counties.

All this makes wine country a best bet for fall color getaways over the Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Napa Valley

Napa Valley (11/14/15) Susan Taylor

Slusser Barn, Sonoma County (11/11/15) Susan Taylor

Vineyards, St. Helena, Napa County (11/20/15) Jas E. Miner

November 22, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Central Valley, Fall Color Report, Gold Country, Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, San Francisco Bay Area, Shasta Cascade

Fall Color for the Holidays

Elm, Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams

Folks heading home for the holidays should see lots of fall color in yards and urban forests, as this sampling taken by color spotters across California attests.

Ginkgo biloba, Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams

Maple, Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams

Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams

Jim Adams went out this week to capture glorious golden ginkgos and colossal claret-colored liquidambar along the boulevards of Sacramento’s Southside Park. Our state’s capital is a sight to behold in autumn when towering London Plane, Elm, Sycamore and trees of every imaginable variety, planted decades ago to shade the city from scorching summer heat, turn red-hot as Thanksgiving Day approaches.

Los Gatos (11/15/15) Anson Davalos

In the Santa Clara Valley (AKA Silicon), Anson Davalos found Los Gatos streets arched with rufous arbors.

Heavenly bamboo, Murietta (11/15/15) Nancy Wright

Liquidambar, Murietta (11/15/15) Nancy Wright

Murietta (11/15/15) Nancy Wright

And, near Riverside, Nancy Wright drove through Murietta to find heavenly bamboo and liquidambar brightening the southland.

What makes California fall color so different from other areas on the continent is that our Mediterranean climate allows many varieties of exotic deciduous trees to flourish. That doesn’t happen elsewhere in North America. And, that means we get a flush of brilliant color in our gardens, arboretums and urban forests that is incomparable.

Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – California’s Urban Forests

November 19, 2015/by John Poimiroo

Orange Friday

California Fall Color Looks Back at 2015

Big Bear: Beautiful Along The Arctic Circle

Berkeley: Where Bears Meet Beauty

Saratoga Sugars Up

Going To Town in Los Angeles

Orange Friday at Lake Gregory

LA County Arboretum Nears Peak

Napa Valley: Perfectly Paired for Thanksgiving Day

Fall Color for the Holidays

Destination

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