I had a slight miscommunication with A, which had me arriving at our hiking spot first (most unusual!) But of course, waiting is never a problem when you have a sketchbook handy.
in sycamore shade
Tag: trees
Quercus agrifolia
We have 6 mature oak trees in our yard, so right now we have hundreds of seedlings popping up all over. If you want to come by and transplant some for your place, let me know! We have plenty to spare!
ways to engage
At our nature journal meetup today, I trialled a class I’ll be offering in a few weeks. The participants enjoyed it and gave valuable feedback. I really loved hearing all their observations and poetry. What a great way to spend a few hours.
Quercus agrifolia
The male oak flowers are dangling hopefully, but, as with the walnut flowers I sketched last week, I’m not yet seeing any females following behind. Will keep looking!
under oak
Salix lasiolepis
It was so good to meet with SMMNJC again this past weekend. Due to vacation, holidays, and wildfires it had been four months since I’d got to hang out with the gang. We welcomed four newcomers, and all enjoyed our time in the sun. I got curious about the arroyo willow flowers and identified male/female. Did not identify the odd stem growth, but mysteries are OK by me.
two trees
After our meal at a Ventura restaurant called Two Trees, we asked the waiter about the name. He told us the story of two oak trees high on the hills behind Ventura, an iconic landmark that could be seen from the harbour. He said the trees burned in the Thomas Fire of December 2017, but that the community raised the funds to replant them. I asked what kind of oaks they were, but he didn’t know.
I did some googling when I got home. Turns out the story is slightly more convoluted. For starters, they were blue gum eucalypts, not native oaks, originally planted in 1898 along with 11 others. Several months before the Thomas Fire, one of the last two trees was felled by strong winds (it was already dead at the time). So then it was just Lone Tree. And maybe a recently planted sapling (sources vary, reported timelines are inconsistent). It seems that the trees have been replanted multiple times over the decades, perhaps most recently in 2018. Venturans consider the trees iconic, and want to protect, nurture and, yes, replace them as needed.
Now I need to look out for this landmark, which I confess I’ve never noticed.
Quercus wislizeni
A long time MCSP docent discovered a rare Interior Live Oak and brought us a twig to admire.
friday hike
Today I returned to an old favourite, dog-friendly, fossil-laden canyon for a lovely winter hike. The landscapito at the top was sketched from the turnaround point, looking east.
buttress roots
I sat on the rainforest floor to sketch these fig buttress roots, but within a few minutes found myself to be leech food. I hurriedly plucked about six of the little buggers off my legs and arms and abandoned the location. Mt Glorious is indeed glorious, if you love rainforest, and don’t mind leeches.
hashiworks 