According to the weatherman, spring comes in the middle of March. But for those of us living in the Sierra Nevada mountains, spring depends more on altitude than on the time of year. For garden lovers this provides a great opportunity. Starting in February in the Central Valley and ending sometimes as late as August in the high mountain passes, spring is where you find it. My wife and I have been following spring bloom up the mountain ever since we retired. In weekly hikes ranging from 300 feet in altitude to almost 10,000 feet high, we follow the bloom.
Let’s start with lupine in all its forms and colors, blooming from low Knights Ferry to high Kennedy Meadows. Monkey flowers, with their red-dotted throats, bloom in the Red Hills near water while bush monkeyflower dresses up the hillsides in the Stanislaus River canyon. Shooting stars cover Bell Meadow. Snow plant flowers along the railroad grade out of Frazier Flat and along Clark Fork Road.
You can also see brilliant cardinal catchfly along Lyon’s Lake, native orchids along Eagle Creek, Indian Paint Brush at the Donnell Overlook and be surprised by the occasional Mariposa lily. Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish and they are aptly named. All of this ends with amazing fall color from the aspens around Eagle Meadow.
So how do you start this amazing journey? To help you decide where to go, start with a hiking guide book such as Katherine Joye’s Day Hikes Along the Highway 108 Corridor. Spotting new things is always exciting. I don’t always remember the names of plants, but most of the time I can remember that I’ve seen a specific plant before. Field guides are helpful. Some of our favorites are The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws or Yosemite Wildflowers by Judy and Barry Breckling.
You can always just take a picture on your phone and share it with Google lens. You don’t need to be an expert; you can learn as you go. Or just take time to drink the surrounding beauty into your soul. You don’t even need to be in great shape; going slowly allows you to see more of what is around you. My mother was a great example of the lack of need for expertise. If she saw a purple flowering bush, it was always penstemon, no arguments allowed.
This is not just about flowers. Trees, bushes, even the mountains themselves are all part of creating a sense of wonder. If you don’t look up, you will miss the dogwoods in flower or the bright light green tips on the pines as they push out new growth.
Do me one favor though; take a bag with you and bring home a little litter. My dad taught me from a young age to always leave a place better than you found it. His fishing creel always came back full, not so much with fish as with beer cans. And don’t pick the flowers. Let them go to seed to renew this wonder for the generations to come.
Jim Bliss is a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener of Tuolumne County.
