California Native Plants Flowering in Late Autumn

While cold weather and snow are settling in across the country, late autumn is awakening the California natives.

The native wild currant has burst its first blooms. Our rain comes in autumn and winter, so now is the time for our native plants to produce fruit or blooms for a summer crop. Many like the toyon have been holding their fruit in a green stage for months and are now ripening just in time to feed winter migratory birds.

The wild currant lost its leaves in the summer heat and now has regained its green adornment. The natives are bursting to life while the exotic plants are dropping their leaves and going dormant. It is a strange mixture really. Perhaps this is why so many people don't think we have seasons in California, they don't realize that the green of summer and the green of winter are provided by completely different plants.

On New Year's Day, people see our green hills rising behind the Rose Parade and they think that we have beach weather all year round. The reality is that we have cold winter days, but this is the only time we have real rain. Plants that want to survive in our climate have to be frost and cold tolerant. The cold season is the only time they can really grow.

Signs of Autumn

The signs of autumn are different here in California. While snow is falling in some parts of the country, our insects like the preying mantis are still finishing up their life cycles. This female laid her egg mass on a grape vine. She camouflaged it perfectly to give her offspring the best chance at success, because while they over winter, she will not survive the cooling nights.

But autumn is the time of rebirth for our native plants. The hot dry summer is to hard to survive. Native plants take the summer off, going dormant. This is what many people expect for winter, but as the days shorten and the temperatures cool, native plants begin to grow again.

The ribes or wild currant was covered with dried brown leaves, but autumn growth is bursting out in bright green and pushing aside the old leaves.

Toyon berries are beginning to swell.

Even introduced plants have adjusted to California’s seasons. The bell-shaped blooms on the strawberry tree are popping open.

And the camillia is forming flower buds that will bloom in the middle of our mild California winter.

Migrating birds are traveling through and the Cooper’s hawk, a fast flying aerial predator is hanging around bird feeders. I had a Cooper’s hawk catch a mourning dove in my yard this week. My friend Douglas Welch caught the following video in his yard. It is a great opportunity to compare this fast hawk to your birding books. It is an immature individual which can be tricky to identify.



Check out what is happening in Douglas’ backyard at A Gardner's Notebook