For a few months this year, we’re taking a look at what is
blooming, month-by-month here in the San Francisco Bay Area. These are not
necessarily native plants, but plants or trees that are at home in our Mediterranean
climate. They enliven the landscape with their early blooms.
Because of El Niño, we are having a wet and warm winter. After a long stretch of rain, followed by several weeks of warm, balmy
weather, many trees and plants are starting to bloom. Some specimens may be
blossoming a little ahead of their usual schedules, and some may be putting on
an extravagant show to ensure reproduction after a four-year drought.
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| Prunus spp. in Oakland, CA |
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| Rosmarinus officinalis in Dublin, CA |
Along Highway 13, the Acacia
are in full golden bloom; and along Interstate 580, through San Leandro, the
naturalized Prunus are starting to bloom.
I think I even spotted a Ceanothus with an
early wash of blue flowers emerging. In Dublin,
the Prunus are surprisingly late, but
the Rosmarinus that is used for
street planting is awash in indigo blooms. Closer to home in Oakland, the Helleborus is still producing flowers; the Camellias are going strong; and the Muscari are starting to amass. What a
show!
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| Helleborus spp. in Oakland, CA (can you name those flower parts?) |
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