SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS

When we lived in Los Angeles I was fortunate to live within walking distance of the Santa Monica mountains.  On Sunday my husband and I frequently take a trail along the mountains to Temescal Canyon.  From there we walk to the Farmer’s Market on the streets of Pacific Palisades.  At the end of the summer the chaparral is extremely dry, but once we receive a little rain in November or December, the hills begin to turn green, and the Sycamores and Black Walnut trees leave out.  From January until May there are a variety of wild flowers: Nopales, Ceanothus, Mariposa Lily, Blue Dicks, Phacilia, Penstemon, and California Poppies.  In the fall and winter there are Black Walnuts, Toyon berries, Sycamore pods, and acorns on the Oaks.

                                       Calochortus plummerea

                                         Calochortus catalinea