Last Fruit of the Season
Hawthorn, El Dorado Hills (10/18/18) John Poimiroo
Hawthorn (Crataegus), according to Celtic lore, embody contradictions.
Beautiful in springtime with their abundant white blossoms, Hawthorn produce bonny bouquets. Yet, their long, sharp thorns (a member of the rose family) and deathly smell when harvested, discouraged the Celts from picking them.
It became a bad omen to bring beautiful blooming branches of Hawthorn blossoms into a Celtic home, as when cut they smell like decaying flesh and were seen as an omen of death. The Celts believed the Hawthorn to be imbued with male energy, yet also stood as a symbol of female fertility … more duality.
In autumn, their branches hang heavy with bright red berries, attracting birds. The berries are long lasting, often into winter, are delicious fresh, dried, juiced, made into syrup, wine, jam or jelly and said to benefit the heart and circulation in reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, as they are a diuretic (consult a physician before using for this purpose).
Though, their long thorns are so discouraging, that when planted in dense rows they are used as impenetrable fences for livestock or privacy.
In our yard is this Autumn Glory variety of tree that gets taller each year (they grow to 25′). Presently, it is carrying heavy bunches of fruit upon its thorny limbs.
Its dark-green, leathery leaves are showing the earliest signs of color change, with its edges now gilded. Eventually, green leaves will turn to gold and the tree’s fresh red fruit will wither.
Hawthorn is, of course, not native to California, but like the Celts, we love its beauty and fear its thorns. 
- Hawthorn, El Dorado Hills – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Apple Harvest
Oak Glen (10/12/18) Alena Nicholas
Oak Glen (10/12/18) Alena Nicholas
Oak Glen (10/12/18) Alena Nicholas
Oak Glen (10/12/18) Alena Nicholas
Oak Glen (10/12/18) Alena Nicholas
As American as … Apple Hill, Julian and Oak Glen.
These California apple harvest destinations are famous for their cider, pie, strudels, confections and sauce, all made of apples, of course.
Even though the apple pie was invented in England, the following prove that nothing could be truer than the expression “as American as apple pie:”
- In El Dorado County, Apple Hill is so popular that a free shuttle bus system has been established to keep the roads in Camino from becoming gridlocked on autumn weekends;
- Ten restaurants serve apple pie in Julian, a city of 1,500 (San Diego County) and
- Twenty-four varieties of apples are grown and sold at Oak Glen (San Bernardino County).
That’s just the start of why autumn adventures in apple country has become such a tradition for Californians. Presently, fall color is Just Starting, though the apple harvest is happening, and Americans LOVE their apples.
San Bernardino County color spotter Alena Nicholas was there, today, and sent these images, but no apple pie. C’mon, Alena, share the love.
- Apple Hill, Camino (3,133′) – Just Starting (10-50%)
- Oak Glen (4,734′) – Just Starting (10-50%)
- Julian (4,226′) – Just Starting (10-50%)
Oak Glen (10/12/18) Alena Nicholas
California Wild Grape
California Wild Grape, Cameron Park (10/5/18) John Poimiroo
California Wild Grape, Cameron Park (10/5/18) John Poimiroo
Fremont Cottonwood and California Wild Grape, Cameron Park (10/5/18) John Poimiroo
California Wild Grape, Cameron Park (10/5/18) John Poimiroo
California Wild Grape (Vitis californica) is a treat for fall color foragers.
It’s known to climb as high as 50′ and one specimen I found in Cameron Park easily topped that height. It had overgrown a stand of Frémont cottonwoods, with grapes hanging in bunches like Christmas ornaments all the way to the top of the trees.
This woody vine is found growing between sea level and 4,000′, often climbing into trees, Falcon Press’ Plants of Northern California reports.
In autumn, their large grape leaves turn a vibrant yellow or deep red at peak.
Only a few leaves had yet blushed, though I plan to return to get more pictures and purloin a basket of grapes, which have a very pleasant, mild and sweet grape flavor.
California Wild Grape (1,198′) – Patchy (10-50%)
Sierra Zinfandel Near Harvest
Zinfandel, Wilderotter Vineyard, Plymouth (9/10/18) John Poimiroo
Zinfandel, Wilderotter Vineyard, Plymouth (9/10/18) John Poimiroo
Zinfandel, Wilderotter Vineyard, Plymouth (9/10/18) John Poimiroo
Zinfandel grapes at Wilderotter Vineyard (Plymouth, Amador County) hang in heavy indigo bunches as they await being harvested, which will likely occur late this or next week.
Some of their leaves are blushing as if in excitement of the harvest, while others are gilded with gold or dried to orange-brown.
Just Starting (0-10%) – Wilderotter Vineyard, Plymouth (Sierra Foothills AVA)
Earth Day Wildflowers
Winter Mustard (file photo) Bob McClenahan, Visit Napa Valley
It was a beautiful Earth Day weekend to be out enjoying California’s spring wildflowers.
California poppies and California lilac (file photo) Bob McClenahan, Visit Napa Valley
In the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties, the last of late winter’s yellow mustard blossoms have given way to populations of poppies, lupine and all varieties of colorful wildflowers, between the vines, along their edges, beside roadways and on open land.
The colorful springtime display, particularly showy in areas where last fall’s wildfires opened overgrown woodlands to wildflowers, has been nourished by the nutrients left behind by the fires. This will be one of the best years to see big displays of wildflowers because of last fall’s wildfires.
Western Wildflower lists 17 trails in Napa County to hike for dazzling displays of flora. One of California’s best areas is the Missimer Wildflower Preserve, a protected native grassland. Across its acres of open meadows grow several species listed by the California Native Plant Society as endangered, including the narrow-leaved daisy, Napa western flax, Colusa lavia and yellow Mariposa lily, Calochortus luteus.
Sonoma County Tourism lists 10 Great Wildflower Walks with a colorful array of orange poppies, deep blue iris (now in bloom), purple lupine, white woodland stars, yellow columbine, pink shooting stars, golden fairy lanterns, red larkspur and lavendar clarkia (June) splashed throughout Sonoma County.
California poppies, Gwinllan Vineyards (5/22/18) John Poimiroo
In Sierra Nevada foothills, orange, red and golden California poppies are at their most glorious anywhere grassy slopes face the southern sky. The South Fork of the Merced River, from Mariposa to Yosemite National Park along CA-140 is considered to have one of the best shows, though the upper areas of the Merced River Canyon peaked in mid March.
HIKE OF THE WEEK – The 6.5-mile Hite Cove Trail, leading from Savage’s Trading Post (midway between Mariposa and Yosemite) is spectacular right now with profuse displays of wildflowers growing beside the trail.
If you plan to hike this famed wildflower trail, start early and carry a large bottle of water – you’ll need all of it. The trail is moderate to strenuous, though it has a bonus if you make it to the end… an abandoned mine.
Sierra foothills are carpeted with wildflowers (5/22/18) John Poimiroo
When you capture great images of California’s wildflowers, send them to us and we’ll post them here.
Speeding Toward Winter At Warp
Midway Rd., Durham (11/24/17) Robert Kermen
With just 24 days of autumn remaining and winter storms now wetting California every few days, autumn is speeding toward winter at warp speed, as Robert Kermen depicts in his Thanksgiving Day photo of the Midway, between Durham and Chico (northern Sacramento Valley).
Sonoma Valley (11/24/17) Anson Davalos
Colusa (11/24/17) Nancy Hull
This past weekend’s storms stripped many Northern California trees and vines of color that was evident when these images were taken by Anson Davalos and Nancy Hull on Thanksgiving Day.
Cottonwood along the American River in the Sierra Foothhills have lost their lustrous crowns of bright gold and other landmark trees in the Sacramento Valley are now Past Peak.
Splotches of auburn and orange can still be seen in Gold Country and Central Valley towns, though rain has knocked much of the color from the trees, creating a mash of fallen leaves on the pavement.
Sierra Foothills – Past Peak – You Missed It.
Sacramento Valley – Past Peak – You Missed It.
Sweeping Fall Away
Doug Wilber sweeps leaves along 43rd St. in Sacramento (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
41st St., Sacramento (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
Doug Wilber spent part of his Saturday, much as he has done each Autumn for the past 17 years… raking and sweeping leaves into a pile in front of his Sacramento home.
His neighbors along 43rd St. had or were doing the same when I visited today.
The City of Sacramento calls this time of year, “Leaf Season.” It’s when the city’s fastidious residents rake, sweep and blow leaves from their front yards into piles every few feet along city streets. Then, every couple of weeks from November through January, city workers come by and scoop them up.
That leaf removal continues for three months in Sacramento tells you just how many trees grow there. This capital city loves its deciduous trees, which provide cooling shade in summer and warming sunlight during winter.
Folsom Bike Trail (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
Mormon Island Wetland Reserve, Folsom (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
Even SMUD, the local public utility, encourages their being planted to save energy. Sacramento County residents are able to get ten free shade trees through a partnership between the Sacramento Tree Foundation and SMUD.
In Sacramento’s Shady Eighty program, residents can choose the desired height, shape, level of water dependency, if the tree flowers, how close or far it might be planted to structures or power lines, and – yes – desired fall color (red, yellow or orange).
Gingko biloba, William Land Regional Park, Sacramento (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
Gingko biloba leaves and clover, Land Park, Sacramento (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
Each year in the week before Thanksgiving, Sacramento streets are layered with canopies of ruby, crimson, orange, gold, yellow, green and buff-colored leaves. It is an impressive sight and worth a trip to Sacramento in addition to its great museums, bars, restaurants and the Freeport Bakery with its famous leaf cookies and other irresistible baked goods.
Roosters, Village Park, Fair Oaks (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
Leaf Cookies, Freeport Bakery, Sacramento (11/18/17) John Poimiroo
My favorite locations for seeing fall color in Sacramento County include: Mormon Island Wetland Reserve and bike trails of Folsom, quaint Fair Oaks where chickens run free, East Sacramento’s Fabulous Forties (Gracious Tudor, Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts, California Bungalow and other grand homes along tree-lined streets numbered in the 40s), William Land Regional Park in South Sacramento and along the American River Parkway (Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail – a 32-mile paved bike and pedestrian trail from the Sacramento River to Folsom Lake).
Sacramento County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Wine and Fall Color Pairing
Helwig Winery (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Iron Hub Winery, Shenandoah Valley (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Bella Piazza Winery, Shenandoah Valley (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Unless you’re a club member of one of California’s largest wineries, the welcome is often less than enthusiastic.
Not so in the Sierra Foothills. The wineries there are so lightly visited that the welcome is genuine and warm, and the tasting is often free.
Their hospitality, some extraordinarily exceptional wines and lovely fall color from late-October to mid-November
Counoise, Holly’s Hill (11/12/17) John Poimiroo
Maple, Holly’s Hill (11/12/17) John Poimiroo
make them a great choice.
Today, East Bay color spotter Darrell Sano and I visited the Sierra Foothill AVA, independently. He toured Shenandoah Valley vineyards in Amador County while I stopped in El Dorado County’s Pleasant Valley.
There, Holly’s Hill was holding a wine and cheese pairing, with cheese from an artisan cheese shop in nearby Placerville, which used to be called “Hangtown” for all the hangings that occurred there (the El Dorado County seat) in the late 1800s. Today, all that hangs there are sausages in the cheese shop.
Newtown Rd., Placerville (11/12/17) John Poimiroo
Bigleaf maple (11/12/17) John Poimiroo
At this time of year, Newtown Road, between Placerville and Pleasant Valley, is over hanging with bright yellow bigleaf maple and orange black oak.
It’s the kind of scenic route that Darrell searches for among “the lofty hills and gentle curves in this somewhat hidden area” of California.
Shenandoah Vineyards (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Turley Vineyards (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Despite a late start from Oakland, he found “the morning light was still something to behold, illuminating the hills, intensifying the color.”
That’s why John Muir preferred to call the Sierra Nevada “the range of light.”
Darrell says that one thing he finds wonderful about fall is that “The quality of light at 1 p.m. is like 7 p.m. in summer… intensifying clarity and structure.”
He adds that though the Sierra foothills are peaking, its wine tasting “is never past peak.”
What Darrell enjoys most about tasting in Amador and El Dorado Counties are their “bucolic hills, traffic-less roads, and no limos!”
You’re not likely to encounter backups as people pose for pictures beside their cars or with their girlfriends. You’ll have the road mostly to yourself, except for an occasional rancher, local or fellow oenophile.
As you motor, craggy Sierra peaks spray-painted white with fresh snow are glimpsed to the east, while the western horizon undulates with layers of purple foothills, scored by rows of vines.
It amazes me how many of California’s most famous labels grow zinfandel, syrah, mourvedre, grenache and viognier in the Sierra. It’s not something they brag about doing – “We grow our grapes in the Sierra!” – but they do.
Fiddletown (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Farnham House hidden by fall color (11/12/17) Darrell Sano
Then, you sweep past workers picking olives, apples or pears. Harvest is still coming in, even if the grapes have long-since been picked. Darrell stopped and spent a moment talking to the olive harvesters and “relished the moment.”
In places you’ll find fall color surrounding 1855 Victorian structures, like the Farnham House in Fiddletown.
Soon after gold was found nearby, it got so busy that six stage coaches would stop there, each day.
“Today, Darrell was one of the few who stopped during his trip to pair fall color with wine tasting.
Sierra Foothills – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Fall Farmer’s Markets
Farmer’s Market, Nevada City (11/11/17) Robert Kermen
Farmer’s Market, Nevada City (11/11/17) Robert Kermen
Farmer’s Market, Nevada City (11/11/17) Robert Kermen
California loves its farmer’s markets.
There are literally hundreds of them in the state, and they are found in just about any city of significant population.
Los Angeles has 30 farmer’s markets… some periodic, some permanent.
Although farmer’s markets can be enjoyed year-round here, they’re best in autumn.
Farmer’s Market, Nevada City (11/11/17) Robert Kermen
Farmer’s Market, Nevada City (11/11/17) Robert Kermen
There’s just nothing quite as satisfying as exploring a farmer’s market’s booths and wares on a crisp autumn day. You walk the market in a cozy sweater and spend time leisurely chatting with the farmers, artists, authors and vendors.
Buying at a farmer’s market isn’t just about what you buy, it’s about the relationship you make with the person selling it.
Today, I bought three books, as birthday gifts, directly from the author, a writing instructor at the University of the Pacific.
I didn’t need a book review to know they might be something worth treasuring. His enthusiasm communicated that. You don’t get that on Amazon.com. Spending time at a farmer’s market gives you that and more.
Robert Kermen spent Veterans Day in Nevada City at its farmer’s market. The fall color in town was so-so, but the color to be seen at its farmer’s market was off the charts.
CLICK HERE for where to find farmer’s markets in California.