An Edgewood Promise

California Once Upon a Time: Purple Needlegrass

It's not only people we want to travel back in time to hang out with. I'm planning a little time travel jaunt, back to the days when bunch grasses like this grew all over California......


 Click on the illustration below for maximum viewing pleasure

Once upon a time the California bunch grasses, like this purple needle grass, flourished along with masses of spring wildflowers. With the invasion of Europeans and European grasses in the mid-eighteenth century most of our grasses and wildflower meadows began to look like some other continent.

This purple needle grass continues to grow in Edgewood Preserve, because it grows on serpentine soil (1% of California has serpentine soil, 10% of the entire planet) and also because of determined Weed Warriors who work in the park to eliminate invasive plants and improve the habitat for native wildflowers and grasses.

Yerba Santa- Holy Herb in Bloom

The Holy Herb, Yerba Santa, is bloomin' at the Edgewood Preserve

Click on the illustration above for a glorious in-depth view.

The Carrizo Plain: Soda Lake Jack Rabbit

People go to the Carrizo Plain National Monument for the wildflower bloom. It's one of two places left in the Central Valley of California that is considered to be close to it's pristine pre-agriculture condition.

It's been a dry winter here in California, so there weren't an abundance of wildflowers. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed our short trip to this out-of-the-way, isolated preserve.

California Dreamin' Poppies and Red Maids at Edgewood Park

My top priority is hiking Edgewood Park as often as possible. 

My second priority is homework. 

Today it was CA poppies and Red Maids putting on a show.

Nature, The Original Greengrocer: Edgewood Current

To Fully Enjoy Natures Produce

...................Click on the Illustration Above 

Hawks Ahead (Marsh Hawk/Northern Harrier Hawk)

Click on the illustration to get up close and personal with this lovely   hawk.


I saw this gorgeous fellow, and his mate, yesterday at Edgewood Park. These days they are commonly referred to as Northern Harrier Hawks, but since I first saw Circus cyaneus at the Palo Alto Baylands, I prefer the good old fashioned sobriquet of Marsh Hawk.