Cambria’s in bloom with purple, yellow and gold
As social media sites light up with photos of blooming wildflowers from all over the state — from the desert to Shell Creek Road about 20 miles out of Santa Margarita — recent sun and rain have brought out similar, if somewhat smaller, displays along the North Coast.
Some hillsides and meadows along highways 1 and 46 are aglow with yellow, orange, purple and other wildflower colors, and a few areas on the creek roads are also laden with flowers. Blossoms dotting neighborhood yards and meadows shimmer in the breeze.
Poppies and lupine shine in the sun. Blooming trees and vines are doing so with enthusiasm this year, and many Japanese maple trees already have branches laden with dark red leaves.
You don’t even need to leave town to see pretty blooms. Xeriscape plantings and volunteer flowers fill center dividers and roadside plantings along Cambria’s Main Street, and various slopes are ablaze with color. Many of these are lovingly tended by a typically eclectic North Coast assortment of dedicated volunteer gardeners and members of nonprofit groups, as are the tiny gardens atop the town’s wooden trash/recycling receptacles.
Learn more
There’ll be a couple of Cambria opportunities soon to learn more about the vivid flora.
Greenspace — The Cambria Land Trust is sponsoring a spring walk Saturday, April 9, at Arroyo de la Cruz with David Chipping, Cal Poly emeritus professor of geology and conservation chairman of the California Native Plant Society. Boxed lunch is included in the $45 fee. Participants meet at 4251 Bridge St. to carpool. Reservations are requested; call 927-2866, go to www.greenspacecambria.org or email connie@greenspacecambria.org.
Two weeks later, Friends of Fiscalini Ranch Preserve will host their Wildflower Show from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, April 23 and 24, at the Veterans Memorial Building. Details http://www.ffrpcambria.org.
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Cambria’s in bloom with purple, yellow and gold."