“Beauty and seduction, I believe, is nature’s tool for survival, because we will protect what we fall in love with.” (Louie Schwartzberg)
Around San Francisco Bay this time of year, the open hills and valleys are a rich green velvet. Lengthening days and spring rains are coaxing the grasses and wildflowers to life. Each spring I’m drawn to the hills to search out the beautiful colors and finely wrought forms of our local wildflowers. On a recent hike to Little Yosemite at Sunol Regional Wilderness, the wildflowers stood out like jewels among the grasses and hazed the hillsides with golden hues. Poppies, blue-eyed grass, buttercups, fiddlenecks, and lupine are blooming now. I was searching for some of my favorites: shooting stars, goldfields, Chinese houses. Maybe they’ll be out in a week or two.
Little jewels shining in the spring sunshine, each flower has a story and myriad connections to its ecosystem. Beauty -- in wildflower terms -- is a by-product. Attracting pollinators and setting seeds for the next generation of flowers are of top importance in their short lifespans. In return they provide sustenance, nectar and pollen, for bees, moths, butterflies, flies, and other insects, along with some birds and bats. Flowers are an integral part of the dance of life. Here’s a video excerpt from Louie Schwartzberg’s high-speed film of pollinators at work. The images of honeybees swarming against a blue sky, thousands of monarch butterflies, and bats pollinating cactus at night are inspiring and memorable.
You can join the Wildflower Festival at Sunol Regional Wilderness this Sat., 4/14/12 from 11am-4pm to learn more about our local wildflowers with fun activities and guided walks. Or download one of the East Bay Regional Park wildflower guides and take a hike to discover them for yourself. There are also some great websites like the US Forest Service's Celebrate Wildflowers and a searchable website of California Flora that can help identify wildflower species. Regardless of where you go to enjoy them, remember that wildflowers need to be left to grow and set seed for future flowers, to feed pollinators, and to take their place in the cycle of life.
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