Fall Color Report – Page 59 – California Fall Color

Pear Perfect in Healdsburg

Flowering pear, Healdsburg (12/7/19) Anson Davalos

Soon after non-Indians settled the Healdsburg area in the late 1850s, they found that anything grows in Sonoma County’s fertile soil.

Grapes, lumber and hops were Healdsburg’s biggest cash crops until The Volstead Act (Prohibition) eliminated commercial wine and beer making in 1919. Vineyards were then uprooted and replaced with orchards.

To replace the grapes and hops, French plums were planted in such abundance surrounding Healdsburg that the town became known as “the buckle of the prune belt.”

Plums became a huge profit crop, as prunes (dried plums) were a fruit that could be transported and had shelf life in an age when refrigeration wasn’t common.

Kelseyville, in neighboring Lake County, had a similar history, though its vineyards were replaced with pear orchards whose fruit was canned and also exported, earning Kelseyville the sobriquet, “pear capital of the world.”

Both towns began replacing orchards with vineyards, starting in the 1980s, as wine consumption increased and consumption of dried and canned fruit declined.

*Flowering pear, Healdsburg (12/7/19) Anson Davalos*

Colorful remnants of the region’s orchard days remain in downtown Healdsburg where pear trees (the flowering variety) line its streets. Color spotter Anson Davalos found them at peak this past weekend.

We know of no plums growing in Kelseyville, though pears remain an important product, especially when combined with wine, as noted in this Sunset magazine article.

Healdsburg, Sonoma County (105′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Pears

December 9, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Late Autumn Storms Pave Silicon Valley With Gold

Gingko biloba, Mountain View (12/5/19) Vishal Mishra

As if the Silicon Valley wasn’t already paved with gold, late autumn is truly paving its streets with golden gingko leaves.

Silicon Valley color spotter Vishal Mishra sends these images of Gingko biloba littering the streets of Mountain View with gold.

*Gingko biloba, Mountain View (12/5/19) Vishal Mishra*

Mountain View – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.

December 9, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County

Tujunga Canyon Gets Big

Big Tujunga Canyon, Sunland-Tujunga (12/7/19) Ken Lock

Big Tujunga Canyon is getting big above Sunland-Tujunga, reports Ken Lock.

Big Tujunga Canyon, Sunland-Tujunga (12/7/19) Ken Lock

The canyon is coursed by Big Tujunga Creek, a major Los Angeles County stream which drops from the upper San Gabriel Mountains to Big Tujunga Dam/Reservoir. Below the dam, the creek winds through the scenic canyon pictured here, then spills out of the mountains at Sunland-Tujunga and disappears into a San Fernando Valley aquifer.

Along the stream, a diverse riparian forest of winter deciduous trees flourishes, with Fremont and black cottonwood, western sycamore, bigleaf maple, blue elderberry, box elder, white alder, Southern California and Northern California black walnut, and velvet ash providing the color.

That diversity has painted the creek’s edges with green, lime, yellow and occasional spots of vermillion.

Big Tujunga Canyon, Sunland-Tujunga (12/7/19) Ken Lock

Big Tujunga Canyon – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

December 9, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, San Francisco Bay Area, Special Events

Leafless Tree Identification

Gingko biloba, San Francisco (12/6/19) Friends of the Urban Forest

San Francisco’s Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) are “hedging bets,” this Sunday (love the pun), by leading a free walking tour of fall color remaining in San Francisco’s Mission District, regardless of predicted stormy weather.

Ben Carlson of FUF says the walk hopes to “catch the tail end of our fall colors, but on the other hand we’ll be talking about how to identify many of San Francisco’s most common deciduous species once they’ve lost their leaves altogether (looking for clues in twigs, bark, overall shape etc.).”

That’s a fascinating idea … a Leafless Tree Identification Tour. For me, it’s hard enough discerning one tree from another using their photographs, but take away the leaves? These FUF guys are good.

To participate, meet on Dec. 8 at 10 a.m. at 735 Dolores St. for the walk or CLICK HERE for more information.

Now, should you miss the walk, consider picking up a Green Christmas Tree from FUF. A $95 donation gets you a recyclable live tree to decorate. After the holidays, return the tree and it will be planted somewhere in San Francisco.

Ester goes home for the holidays, San Francisco (12/3/19) Friends of the Urban Forest

What’s pure fun about this program is that each tree has been given a name, not a number. In the above example, “Ester” (a fern pine, Afrocarpus gracilior) will be spending the holidays with her benefactor, then return to FUF to grace The City’s streets, thereafter.

For more about how to participate in this program and help green-up San Francisco’s urban forest, CLICK HERE.

Presidio, San Francisco – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT. And while you’re there, donate and borrow a living Christmas Tree to improve San Francisco’s urban forest.

December 6, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, First Report, Los Angeles County

Out of this World

Vasquez Rocks (12/5/19) Allison Hastings

Nicknamed “Kirk’s Rock” for the many times it appeared in early episodes of the television series Star Trek, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in Agua Dulce (between Santa Clarita and Palmdale) is virtually out of this world when it comes to dramatic beauty and late fall color.

Allison Hastings scores a First Report for sending back photos of the hike she took with her dog there, today.

Most of the color comes from native Fremont cottonwood and western sycamore. Also in the area are bigleaf maple, black and blue elderberry, white alder, Southern California black walnut, chokecherry, California ash and various willows.

*Vasquez Rocks (12/5/19) Allison Hastings*

Vasquez Rocks, Agua Dulce – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

December 5, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Central Valley, Fall Color Report, Gold Country

Capitol Color

Capitol Park, Sacramento (12/3/19) Steve Arita

Today was the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the State Capitol in Sacramento, though it wasn’t the only tree at Capitol Park that was lit up with color.

Steve Arita was there this week and sends these images of late peak color. Sacramento’s neighborhoods are now past peak, though spots of bright color – as seen in Capitol Park – can still be found in this city of trees.

*Capitol Park, Sacramento (12/3/19) Steve Arita*

Capitol Park, Sacramento – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.

December 5, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County, Southern California

LA County Arboretum Near Peak

Gingko biloba, Herb Garden, LA County Arboretum (12/4/19) Frank McDonough

Native and exotic trees are near peak at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, dressing its grounds with red, orange, yellow and chartreuse.

Red oak, Quercus rubra, Historic Section, LA County Arboretum (12/4/19) Frank McDonough

Los Angeles County has a long peak, from mid November to mid December, though it is specific to a few national forest drainages and to urban forests with concentrated areas of deciduous non-native foliage.

American elm, Historic Section, LA County Arboretum (12/4/19) Frank McDonough

Arboretums and gardens are the best locations in LA County to see peak fall color right now, including the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia, Descanso Gardens in La Canada-Flintridge, the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino and the South Coast Botanic Gardens in Palos Verdos Peninsula.

Two of these gardens add illuminated displays during the holidays. The LA County Arboretum in Arcadia hosts Moonlight Forest, a nighttime display of colorful lanterns (seen in some of these images). And, Descanso Gardens in La Canada-Flintridge hosts the Enchanted Forest of Lights in which trees are flooded with dramatic, colorful lighting.

Click to enlarge photos.

*Tallac Knoll, LA County Arboretum (12/4/19) Frank McDonough*

LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia – Near Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

December 5, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County, Southern California, Wildlife

SoCal: As The Crow Flies

Nanday conures, Peter Strauss Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/25/19) Kathy Jonokuchi

“As the crow flies,” Kathy Jonokuchi reports, “Peter Strauss Ranch is a few miles west … from Paramount Ranch” in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Peter Strauss Ranch was another of the areas burned during last year’s Woolsey Fire and is still closed to the public.

Named after actor Peter Strauss who lived on the ranch, then sold it to the National Park Service. The property been a site for relaxation and recreation for nearly a century.

Triunfo Creek, a seasonal stream on the ranch is home to Western sycamore and coastal live oak, both of which have recovered from the fire, Kathy reports.

*California quail, Peter Strauss Ranch, SMMNRA (11/25/19) Kathy Jonokuchi*

Fall color there is now past peak, though Nanday conures were feeding on sycamore seed pods and a large flock of California Quail foraged the ground for scattered seeds, beneath the black-hooded parakeets.

Fremont cottonwood, Big Tujunga River, Angeles National Forest (11/30/19) Ken Lock

Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, Ken Lock found Fremont cottonwood to be peaking along the Big Tujunga River. He noted that while autumn has ended elsewhere in California, several locales in Southern California are still prime.

Angeles National Forest – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Cottonwood.

December 1, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, San Francisco Bay Area

Bay Area Gets Vibrant

Chinese pistach and palm, Los Altos (11/23/19) Vishal Mishra

Autumn in the San Francisco Bay Area is often best during Thanksgiving Week. Color spotter Vishal Mishra found Los Altos and Palo Alto true to form and glowing yesterday.

Chinese pistache, Los Altos (11/23/19) Vishal Mishra

Landmark elm, flowering pear and Chinese pistache are still heavy with leaves, though dropping them in a steady fall.

San Francisco Bay Area – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

November 24, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County, Southern California

Paramount Ranch, Not “The End”

Valley oak, Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi

Last year, the Woolsey Fire roared through the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, incinerating the historic Paramount Ranch film location. At the time, many thought the park’s closing credits would declare “The End” for Paramount Ranch.

However, on a visit this week, Kathy Jonokuchi found that the National Park Service, with help from motion picture studios and the public, plans to rebuilt its Western Town, to be used again in television, commercial and feature films.

Paramount Ranch had served as a film location, since 1927. All that remains of Paramount’s sets are the Western Town’s train station and church (seen in the HBO series, Westworld). Click to enlarge photos.

Church, Western Town, Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi

Gone are sets once used to film the TV series Cisco Kid (1950s), Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (1990s) and countless feature films, TV commercials, videos and photo shoots.

Valley oak, Western Town, Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi

The magnificent Valley oak that grew in the middle of the set had been rumored to have budded this past spring, though it is a charcoal remnant of the great tree it once was (seen above).

Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi

Kathy found that many of the trees had succumbed to the combination of drought and the fire. Though there’s still life in the now stark landscape surrounding Paramount Ranch.

Acorn woodpecker, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi

The park still had “plenty of songbirds and raptors … Nanday conures and an acorn woodpecker” seen storing acorns for his winter cache.

Paramount Ranch can’t claim a happy ending, though it’s not entirely a downer, either. Nature is recovering, and with a helping hand, the national recreation area’s legacy as a film location will recover, as well.

Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA – Patchy (10-50%) – there is not a lot of fall color. Though, what’s there inspires hope.

November 23, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Pear Perfect in Healdsburg

Late Autumn Storms Pave Silicon Valley With Gold

Tujunga Canyon Gets Big

Leafless Tree Identification

Out of this World

Capitol Color

LA County Arboretum Near Peak

SoCal: As The Crow Flies

Bay Area Gets Vibrant

Paramount Ranch, Not “The End”

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