Berkeley’s Botanical Beauty
The UC Berkeley Botanical Garden is at various stages of color. Color spotter Jennifer Natale is a member and goes at least twice each fall. When she visited this week, some areas, such as the Eastern US section and some of the Asia collection are at, or near, peak.
Other areas such as the rest of the Asia area and Japanese pool are just starting to turn with some green leaves still remaining. Usually the week of Thanksgiving is peak for the Japanese pool but it may last until the very end of the month, given how slow it’s changing, Natale says. She also recommends that visitors check football schedules and campus events, which could make parking and traffic difficult. Also check the university’s website for hours or any closures for special events.
Natale suggests people go in the next two weeks for a good mix of color (barring any heavy wind events).
- UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (171′) – Near Peak, Go Now.
Los Altos Lookers
With its attractive autumn foliage, the Chinese Pistache is a great find this time of year, and color spotter Lucas Yan hit the jackpot this weekend.
He was at State Street Market in Los Altos the morning of November 11 (11/11) and found the Chinese Pistache in full glory around the market.
“The trees are definitely at peak,” he said.
- Los Altos (157′) – Near Peak to Peak (50-100%) GO NOW!
Livermore Lights Up
- Livermore Valley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Down By the Bay
Color spotter Vishal Mishra was excited to share that fall is slowly but surely picking up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mishra visited Saratoga and Woodside on Nov. 4 and reported the following: “Happy to share that, I finally have some colors picking up from the San Francisco Bay Area. We have not been lucky yet with the rain but it seems we can expect cooler temperatures in the coming days, so I am hoping for a fantastic fall foliage this year.”
Keep an eye on the Bay Area for upcoming GO NOW conditions.
Untraditional in the South Bay
On Friday, November 3 color spotter Hanna Summers came across some untraditional, but still stunning colors in Alviso, the southern most part of the San Francisco Bay.
“Not your traditional fall colors, but I could not help but share the beauty at the southern most part of the SF Bay that I saw in Alviso today,” she said. “The pickleweed was turning beautiful shades of red as were some of the other plants (iceplants and thistles)… not to mention the beautiful hues of orange, pink, and red in the water itself from the salt loving microbes!”
Fall is fall to us here and any color changes count in our book!
One Last Look
Northern California was still lovely last week. However, after today’s lashing of wind, rain and lightening, much of it is gone.
Ryan Boyd sent this last look at what he saw a week ago along the Lower Sacramento River and in the Livermore Valley.
- Livermore Valley (495′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.
- Lower Sacramento River (433′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.
Sycamore Grove Park
As seen in this and the previous post, California sycamore are at peak both in northern and southern California. I’d asked East Bay color spotter Salil Bhatt to visit Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore, and he reports the sycamore as slightly past peak, noting they were probably their best during Thanksgiving week or the week prior.
Southern California sycamore are trailing by a week, which is worth noting for future visits.
Note the distinctive multi-stemmed, weathered trucks of California sycamore. At perfection, they are sculptural in form. The leaves depicted in these images are uniformly golden, though other examples in the Santa Monica Mountains NRA have combined burnt sienna, gold, yellow and raw umber, wonderously.
Salil reports that, “Fall has progressed rather quickly over the Thanksgiving weekend in the East Bay. As late as Thanksgiving day, the colors were just cresting peak and when I got back from my weekend trip – many of the trees had already dropped their leaves. The remaining have leaves that have taken on a more muted brown. There is still color to be found, particularly in the native cottonwood and some oak species but the area as a whole is rapidly approaching past peak.
- Sycamore Grove Park, Livermore (495′) – PEAK to Past Peak, GO NOW, You almost missed it.