Snow Blossoms

Earlier this month I made my annual trek to Southern California to meet up with my parents, who flew down from Alaska. We all look forward to our time together, and enjoy heading out to the desert to see spring wildflowers (see Mill Creek and Apple Preserve for past reports). Southern California has been in a severe drought for the past three years, so we are never sure what to expect in the way of blossoms. That is OK with us, because we are fascinated to see how plants survive these harsh conditions, and to compare how our favorite destinations change from year to year. We keep records in the form of photographs, journal entries, and notes, so we can draw on them for easy comparison.

Snow covered orchard at Los Rios Rancho in Oak Glen, CA

We like to drive home from the airport by way of Mill Creek, and stop at a bakery in Oak Glen to stock our lunch bag. It is usually warm and pleasant, with orange trees in blossom at lower elevations, and apple trees newly leafed out at higher elevations. This year we encountered rain and then snow! In no time, Oak Glen and the surrounding hills were covered with a blanket of snow. At 4734 feet elevation, snow in Oak Glen can happen, but in April?



The Los Rios Rancho bakery and general store promised warmth and goodies.

We made a quick stop at the Los Rios Rancho bakery to make our purchases, but bypassed the picnic tables, and ate our applesauce cookies and turnover in the car with the heat cranked up. The apple orchards were in full bloom, with beautiful pale pink blossoms. We wondered whether the snowfall would damage the apple blossoms, but concluded they would be fine, since the temperature hovered around 32 degrees and the snow would melt quickly.

The softly falling snow and hush over the picnic tables did not lure us out of the car.

The unexpected rain and snow also had us speculating whether the moisture would benefit our blossom viewing over the next week. The flowers would have to act quickly!

The delicate pink apple blossoms are so appealing - here they are snow blossoms!