In Search of the Season

With the ongoing spells of hot weather, it seems the fall season may not begin until the winter holiday ornaments have been taken down. Perhaps the delay of cool weather is nature’s revenge upon the retailers who insist on exhibiting Thanksgiving and Christmas items soon after the back-to-school displays come down in early September.

In fact, I may have missed the exact day that autumn began, but once it arrived I set out exploring. My intent was to discover the sights, colors, smells, sounds, and feel of a New England autumn here in the San Fernando Valley.

Our seasonal changes may not be spectacular at each solstice or equinox, but we can enjoy the subtle variations that mark the changes in our light, weather, and yes, even foliage. In fact, unlike the fall foliage in New England and the Midwest, where wind and severe weather limit the high color to about two weeks, we have a long period of colorful leaves that extends from mid-October to late November.

To guide the search for glorious fall foliage, I enlisted the aid of experts from the Sun Valley-based Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of California’s native flora and habitats. I visited the group’s 22-acre nursery, which features 400 species of native plants and a demonstration garden.

My drive began along the country lane to the foundation’s main building, a charming house converted into facilities for bookshop, offices and seed examination, sorting and cataloging laboratory. There I was rewarded by the sight of a large California sycamore, aglow in yellow and gold.

Further on, terrazzo picnic tables are sheltered by a natural arbor provided by a single grape vine, which is more than 50 years old. Higher up, a small grove of sycamores shed piles of crunchy fallen leaves around another bank of picnic tables, open to the public without charge.

Up the wildflower hill, where seeds have just been planted, visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the San Fernando Valley. On this day, the view revealed patches of autumn color along neighborhood streets with the Santa Monica Mountains as a backdrop.

My guide around the preserve was executive director and arborist, Michael Kristiansen. He introduced me to Ed Peterson, a UCLA trained botanist who, at age 92, continues his work there as a weekly volunteer.

In the 1960s, Peterson and his wife followed the fall color from Nova Scotia down the eastern seaboard to Florida. For the past 30 years, he has scouted out indigenous native plant seeds from trees, shrubs and wild flowers from Ojai to Orange County. He brings this bounty to the Payne Foundation for sorting, cleaning, planting, packaging and sales. Color, he said, is now thriving in the San Gabriel Mountains, where black oaks are turning yellow, and willows in the mountain streams display their golden bronze.

According to Kristiansen, “Autumn means fireplace fires, more family time, snuggling up and reading stories together.” And it is a time to marvel at nature’s palette. “Color does to the common man what music does to the aficionado, overwhelms one with the intensity of nature.”

Color changes in leaves come when cool temperatures cause sugars in the leaf to withdraw into branches and be stored as starches. These, in turn, provide the energy that allows the plant to produce new leaves the following season. Without the sugar, the chlorophyll in the leaf loses the fuel needed for photosynthesis, which produces the green color.

If the temperature falls precipitously in early autumn or late summer, sugar may rapidly withdraw from the leaves, resulting in a quick transition from green to brown.

This year’s summer-autumn transition has been perfect, with alterations between hot and cool spells and no extreme cold. The more frequent the hot-cool cycle, the more spectacular the color differentiation.

Kristiansen suggests keeping an eye out for liquidambar trees in Coldwater Canyon, which have lobed, maple-like leaves and colors that range from yellow to bright red. Look for red maples in North Hollywood and colorful persimmon trees throughout the Valley.

He also recommends a trip to the Virginia Robinson Botanical Garden in Beverly Hills to see the brilliant yellow foliage of the elderberry trees, especially in morning or late afternoon when backlighting brings out their golden hue.

Silva Blackstone, an arborist and board member at the Payne Foundation, was my guide through the San Fernando Valley. She pointed out areas where the changes in chlorophyll pigments light up the native California sycamores and cottonwoods. Liquidambars in varying brilliant shades of orange and crimson are visible on Mason Street in Canoga Park and along Lindley Avenue between Reseda and Northridge.

Further along, on Canoga Avenue near the Warner Center, both sides of the street displayed Modesto ash turning electric yellow, and elm trees and poplars showing their golden yellows. Modesto ash can also be enjoyed on Winnetka Avenue between Oxnard Street and Victory Boulevard, while black walnut trees decorate portions of the San Diego Freeway with their luminous yellows.

Blackstone considers the smell of the first brush fire the harbinger of autumn. Although she thinks of the hot, fast Santa Ana winds as the bearers of these fires, she appreciates the fact that they also blow the valleys clean and clear.

Travelers to Topanga, Sycamore, and Malibu canyons in the Santa Monica Mountains can find autumn’s gold in the cottonwoods and California sycamores that follow creek beds and watershed areas.

Even if the color is not perfect, the oaks are in full production of acorns, available on the ground for gathering. Near creeks and creek beds, you can smell the intoxicating cinnamon and musk-scented patchouli while looking at the cottonwoods that transition through amber and gold.

Hikes to the higher watersheds will be rewarded by dazzling alders and sycamores. The National Forest Service even offers a fall colors hotline at (800) 354-4595.

While in the areas of the Chatsworth Reservoir, Sepulveda Basin or Bolsa Chica wetlands, near the junction of the 22 and 405 freeways, watch the skies for arrowhead formations of migrating Canada geese.

When the brisk air and fall colors inspire visions of New England autumn produce, Blackstone suggests a trip to one of the urban farms that dot the Valley.

Tapia Brothers Market is at the corner of Burbank Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino. Primo Tapia came here from Mexico in 1916 and began farming in the San Fernando Valley, eventually leasing a five-acre parcel of land on which to grow his own vegetables. He gradually expanded and leased more and more land.

By the 1960s, Primo and his sons were farming over 400 acres throughout several counties. They moved to their present location in 1984.

When I arrived at the stand, I found 1960s health guru Gypsy Boots--known for his line of vitamins and health foods--aglow in orange-spotted pants, calico vest, and pointed witch’s hat--pulling the husk off a piece of fresh sweet corn and biting into it with lusty pleasure. The stand, open through mid-November, is a cornucopia of farm-fresh seasonal produce, including winter squash, pomegranates, persimmons, garlic and fresh herbs.

Still longing for that quintessential New England autumn treat--a crisp apple? Well, to see them up close and personal, take a drive east.

For Yvonne Savio, director of the Common Ground Gardening Project, “Autumn is a trip to the apple farms in Oak Glen, the fragrance of apples on a warm day, or fresh-baked pies on a crisp day. Apples in every possible permutation.”

Oak Glen, east of Yucaipa in the San Bernardino Mountains, has a mile-high elevation that is ideal for apple growing. Here a visitor can experience the crispness in the air and apples off the trees. This community offers more than 30 ranches, stands, farms, craft stores and restaurants.

New England autumn abounds in the surrounding forests now displaying the changing foliage of aspen, black and white oak, elms and California sycamore.

After an apple juice-buying excursion in Oak Glen--or in the neighborhood market, for that matter--the home hobbyist can now head to the Home Wine, Beer and Cheese Making Shop in Woodland Hills to pick up the other essentials for making traditional New England hard cider. This is done by adding yeast to any apple juice with no preservatives, to ferment the sugar. The process takes about one week and results in a tasty cider with the bite of 5%-6% alcohol.

At this time of year, other people may yearn for the East Coast, but for me the best way to enjoy a New England autumn is to stay right here in Southern California. My daughter, who attends college in northwest Massachusetts, is happy to send a leaf of the week, while I’m seeking out local autumnal events and changing trees.

I may envy the New Englanders their plethora of fall foliage now, but come January I’ll be quite content to live in a part of the country that is the envy of every snowbound New Englander watching the Rose Parade.

BE THERE

Native plants: Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery and Bookstore: 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley. Wildflower hotline: (818) 768-3533; general information: (818) 768-1802.

Virginia Robinson Botanical Garden, 1008 Eldon Way, Beverly Hills. Walking tours by reservation only, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Friday at 10 a.m. only. Tours last about 90 minutes. Call (310) 276-5367 for reservations.

Fall color hotline, National Forest Service, (800) 354-4595.

Tapia Brothers Market, produce sales, corner of Burbank Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue, Encino. Open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closing Sunday. Reopens Dec. 1 with Christmas trees and decorations.

Oak Glen: Located in the San Bernardino Mountains. For location of farms, schedule of events and directions, call (909) 797-6833.

The Home Wine, Beer and Cheese Making Shop: 22836 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. Call (800) 559-9922, (818) 884-8586.