The mustard flowers filling fields from Coyote Valley to San
Juan Bautista herald the first rays of spring, their tiny yellow
flowers waving softly in the breeze.
Daffodils have sprouted in bunches amid untended plantbeds, and
the first poppies of the season have begun to show their saffron
petals.
The mustard flowers filling fields from Coyote Valley to San Juan Bautista herald the first rays of spring, their tiny yellow flowers waving softly in the breeze.
Daffodils have sprouted in bunches amid untended plantbeds, and the first poppies of the season have begun to show their saffron petals.
Among nature’s most colorful displays, wildflowers offer a glimpse of the earth’s renewal and spring’s triumph over the dreary gray of winter days.
In the South Valley, empty fields will soon be filled with the purple haze of lupin and the dusty rose hue of shooting stars, but most of nature’s bounty is anything but natural, according to botanist Sally Casey.
Many of the early spring blooms in the area are actually imported European varieties, said Casey, not the native varieties that would have flourished here centuries ago.
“The mustard plants are not native,” Casey said. “The story that goes with that is that the padres going along sprinkled mustard seeds so that people would know where to go when they were following the mission trail.”
Daffodils were introduced from eastern Europe as were many of the bulbs found in the area, said Casey. California’s official flower, the poppy, is native though, said Paul McCollum, a volunteer with the Monterey Bay Master Gardener’s Hotline.
“There’s the California poppy, which is usually orange, yellow or white, but you’ll also see the field poppy, which can be pink, orange, red, white or purple,” said McCollum.
The common names of wildflowers in the area are so esoteric, many can sound like something you’d order at a bar, from Love in a Mist and Globe Candy Tuft to Baby Blue Eyes and Farewell to Spring.
If you’re thinking of taking a weekend drive, try the loop formed by Cañada Road as it heads north toward Gilroy Hotsprings, diverting west toward Coyote Lake reservoir. The road is lush with local wildflowers. For a refreshing detour en route to San Francisco, try taking Highway 280. The meandering hills offer up impressive scenic vistas as you race toward the city, and on the side of the road, poppies and yellow daffodils grow in wild tangles of riotous color.
For those who want to get a closer look at nature’s bounty, the Santa Clara County Parks Department will be leading a wildflower viewing hike around Coyote Lake County Park’s Mummy Mountain on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 9am. The tour will highlight not only wildflowers, but the ways in which Ohlone Indians used the native plants. For more information, call (408) 842-7800.
