http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2017-10-16 23:48:282017-10-24 10:58:24SoCal: Lake Gregory and Mt. Palomar Near Peak
Pink Floss-Silk Tree, Southern California (10/11/17) Kathy Jonokuchi
Pink Floss-Silk Tree, Southern California (10/11/17) Kathy Jonokuchi
Color spotter Kathy Jonokuchi shared these images on our Facebook page (@CalifFallColor) of the Pink Floss-Silk tree, an exotic that blooms in mid autumn.
It is another aspect of fall color that is seen only in California and other Mediterranean climates, during autumn.
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (10/16/16) Jim Van Matre
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (10/16/16) Jim Van Matre
Color spotter Jim Van Matre posts a First Report from Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in San Diego County, where black oak and shrubs are a mix of chartreuse and red.
With high winds predicted this week, he’s concerned that the color won’t survive for long.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-10-17 11:32:222016-10-19 21:33:03First Report: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
Color spotter John Caffrey visited Mt. Palomar in San Diego County this past weekend, finding black oak showing a mix of green, gold and orange among the boulders. CLICK HERE to see his full joyride.com report.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-09-21 14:40:572016-09-22 10:29:00Mt. Palomar's Black Oaks Start Their Show
California sycamore, Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve (8/21/16) Sweetshade Lane
Color spotter Sweetshade Lane tweeted seeing subtle color at Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego, thereby scoring the first “First Report” of the season.
California sycamore, Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve (8/21/16) Sweetshade Lane
Frémont cottonwood, Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve (8/21/16) Sweetshade Lane
The preserve covers some 4,000 acres in the Peñasquitos (meaning little cliffs) and Lopez canyons of San Diego. It is an area with stark beauty and prehistoric cultural sites that date back over 7,000 years.
Los Peñasquitos Canyon was part of the first Mexican land grant in San Diego County. Tours of the historic Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos Adobe are available to school groups and the public.
The canyon is renowned as a nature preserve containing geologic formations, over 500 plant species including several landmark trees and 175 birds, as well as many reptiles, amphibians and mammals.
Los Peñasquitos Canyon’s Frémont cottonwood have begun revealing golden leaves, while the twisted limbs of California sycamore are laden with equally twisted chartreuse and rose-colored leaves, providing sculptural detail to the scene.
Just Starting (0-10%) – Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve
San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Escondido (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
Color correspondent Alena Nicholas was on safari for fall color in San Diego on Thanksgiving Day and Orange Friday and found it at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park. And, did San Diego roar!
Coastal marsh, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Safari Park, Escondido (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
Pacific Coast, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
North San Diego County (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
African Elephants, Safari Park, Escondido (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
In 2016, the San Diego Zoo celebrates its 100th birthday. So, during this celebratory period is the time to visit what Trip Advisor rates as the world’s best zoo.
What makes the San Diego Zoo so good is both the breadth of species to be seen (Chinese Giant pandas, Australian koalas, African elephants, Malaysian tigers, California condors, African lions…) and the natural, seemingly unfenced habitats in which they reside.
That means there aren’t many bars or mesh wire fences through which to observe or photograph the animals, but open space instead, and the areas provided for the animals are expansive and have natural settings.
At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (an hour north of the San Diego Zoo in Escondido) visitors ride carts, trams and now motorized trikes, along roads and paved trails into the savannah where they see animals interacting as they would in the wild.
One of the interactive programs at the Safari Park is Cheetah Safari where the “jaw-dropping” speed of a cheetah is demonstrated as it races along a 330-foot long track. Programs at both locations immerse visitors in better appreciating wild animals and the threats to their continued existence in the wild.
On Alena’s safari to San Diego, she captured not just the amazing and colorful inhabitants of the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, but also the foliage to be seen in beautiful Balboa Park and throughout the region: native California fan palms taking on a yellow-orange glow, black oak dressed in lime, yellow and orange, exotic maroon fountain grass, orange-red coastal marsh grasses and trees carrying lime, yellow, orange and red confetti.
San Diego’s climate is so temperate and inviting that the seasonal change is hardly evident, though it can be felt in the autumn air, seen in San Diego’s glorious sunsets and found along stream beds where golden cottonwood and orange black oak paint the landscape.
Early December is an ideal time to visit San Diego. The weather is good (this week, it will be in the low 70s), and the last of California’s fall color will continue to peak through the next two weeks. In two words… GO NOW!
Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – San Diego Zoo and Safari Park
San Diego (11/28/15) Alena Nicholas
Pacific coast, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Safari Park, Escondido (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
Safari Park, San Diego (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
Safari Park, Escondido (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
Safari Park (11/27/15) Alena Nicholas
San Diego Zoo (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Malaysian tiger, San Diego Zoo (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
San Diego Zoo (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
San Diego Zoo (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Balboa Park, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Balboa Park (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Balboa Park, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Balboa Park, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Balboa Park, San Diego (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Cheetah, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Escondido (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
Australian koala, San Diego Zoo (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park (11/26/15) Alena Nicholas
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2015-11-29 23:10:292017-07-21 10:29:43Special Report: San Diego Roars
Elm, Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Folks heading home for the holidays should see lots of fall color in yards and urban forests, as this sampling taken by color spotters across California attests.
Ginkgo biloba, Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Maple, Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Southside Park, Sacramento (11/15/15) Jim Adams
Jim Adams went out this week to capture glorious golden ginkgos and colossal claret-colored liquidambar along the boulevards of Sacramento’s Southside Park. Our state’s capital is a sight to behold in autumn when towering London Plane, Elm, Sycamore and trees of every imaginable variety, planted decades ago to shade the city from scorching summer heat, turn red-hot as Thanksgiving Day approaches.
Los Gatos (11/15/15) Anson Davalos
Los Gatos (11/15/15) Anson Davalos
Los Gatos (11/15/15) Anson Davalos
In the Santa Clara Valley (AKA Silicon), Anson Davalos found Los Gatos streets arched with rufous arbors.
Heavenly bamboo, Murietta (11/15/15) Nancy Wright
Liquidambar, Murietta (11/15/15) Nancy Wright
Murietta (11/15/15) Nancy Wright
And, near Riverside, Nancy Wright drove through Murietta to find heavenly bamboo and liquidambar brightening the southland.
What makes California fall color so different from other areas on the continent is that our Mediterranean climate allows many varieties of exotic deciduous trees to flourish. That doesn’t happen elsewhere in North America. And, that means we get a flush of brilliant color in our gardens, arboretums and urban forests that is incomparable.
Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – California’s Urban Forests
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2015-11-19 11:59:482015-11-19 11:59:48Fall Color for the Holidays
Weekend reports from color spotters show fall color going big across Southern California.
Lake Gregory Waterslides (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Alena Nicholas sent pictures from Rim of the World, Lake Gregory, Seely Creek, Green Valley and Deep Creek in the San Bernardino Mountains with deep orange color within forests of black oak.
Seely Creek (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Even a few dogwood, that have been sheltered from the weather, are still carrying rose and lime confetti.
Lone Pine Cnyn, Wrightwood (11/14/15) Frank McDonough
Frank McDonough sends back this shot of Lone Pine Canyon near Wrightwood, spiking hot, and at his home base in Arcadia, hickory and maple are alive with color at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.
Jim Beaux took his annual trip to Mt. Palomar in San Diego County on Saturday, Nov. 14 and reported black oaks and bracken fern as being past peak.
A small grove of dogwood on the lower end of the Chimney Flats trail were Near Peak.
Mt. Palomar (11/14/15) Jim Beaux
Jim blames the poor color on the drought and windstorms that have blown thru the area over the last couple of weeks.
He’s seen similar dryness at Dogwood Campground near Lake Arrowhead.
Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – San Bernardino Mountains (Lake Gregory, Rim of the World, Seely Creek, Green Valley, Deep Creek)
Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Wrightwood
Past Peak YOU MISSED IT! – Mt. Palomar
Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden
Deep Creek (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Deep Creek (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Green Valley (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Green Valley (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Lake Gregory (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Seely Creek (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Rim of the World (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Seely Creek (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Black oak, Seely Creek (11/14/15) Alena Nicholas
Shagbark Hickory, LA County Arboretum (11/14/15) Frank McDonough
Freeman’s Maple, LA County Arboretum (11/14/15) Frank McDonough
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2015-11-15 17:39:542015-11-22 12:09:04Southern California Goes Big
Southern California color spotter Alena Nicholas returned home to the San Bernardino Mountains to find the forest near peak along Rim of the World and Arrowbear Lake.
Alena promises to send more photos of Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory in coming days, though these already have us wishing we were there this evening to capture that sunset.
Mt. Laguna, San Diego County (11/1/15) Dylan Ren
Mt. Laguna, San Diego County (11/1/15) Dylan Ren
Elsewhere in Southern California, Dylan Ren photographed black oak peaking on Mt. Laguna in San Diego County.
Mt. Laguna is one of the best areas in So. Cal. to photograph black oak. A side benefit of driving the Sunrise Highway to Mt. Laguna is that an end destination is the mountain community of Julian, famous for its pies.
Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Rim of the World
Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Arrowbear Lake
Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Mt. Laguna, San Diego County
