Spring Has Sprung; So Have the Wildflowers

Spring seemed to beat down the door this year. So anxious was it to get here that during the March rains, the sticky, sweet smell of blossoms, from the orange and lemon trees in my garden, oozed through the windows, making the bedroom smell like a department store perfume counter during a half-price sale.

Nature, when left to her own devices, seems to do her best work; right now, she has smattered colorful wildflowers all over the county, providing a field day for mountain hikers, trail walkers and even highway drivers.

The flowers are especially fine in the fire-scarred areas, where the blaze has burned vegetation that normally intrudes on wildflower growth. A glimpse of the rare chocolate lily might even reward those willing to pull on some boots and hike.

Free-lance writer Jane Hulse was just one of many hikers who did just that the last couple of weekends. She was taking notes and oohing and aahing over the blooms for this week’s Centerpiece story and photo spread on the county’s wildflowers.

“I really like to hike, but I have never paid that much attention to the wildflowers,” she said. “But I was bowled over this year, amazed at the number of different wildflowers out there. I expected to see 10 or 12 varieties, but there were 50 or 75 different types in just one part of the Santa Monica Mountains.”

Included in today’s Centerpiece package are glorious photos by free-lance photographers Bruce Huff and Jerry Mennenga, as well as a map that pinpoints the state and national park areas where wildflowers have been spotted. And we list some of the many flowers that rangers and botanists have seen.

“I would really recommend to people who like to hike to get out there and see the flowers,” Hulse said. “But don’t expect to be knocked over by big fields of color, although you might get lucky and see some of that. More often, it is going to be plants here and plants there.

“But they are spectacular.”

And while some of you are getting back to nature, others might be rebelling against it, especially after reading this week’s Fashion column, where free-lancer Kathleen Williams tells us about the comeback of metallic fashions. If neither clomping through coreopsis or slipping into a silver pump does it for you, then Julie Sawyer, who wrote this week’s Shop Talk column, tells you where to find a lovely, cool rayon dress at a good price. Get it in a floral print and combine nature and fashion.

Hey, this is spring, when anything is possible.