A walk amid pretty, blooming wildflowers

To hike down to Wood and Aliso canyons is a pleasant adventure into a treasured wilderness, an opportunity to visit plants that live in the wild.

Alan and I were blessed with a glorious blue sky and the anticipation of sycamores swaying in the gentle breeze.

We immediately encountered the blazing yellowish orange of the sticky monkey flower, Diplacus aurantiacus.

This wildflower brightens both the natural and home landscape during the spring and summer. Nestled nearby, within a field of grasses was a gorgeous stand of mariposa, Calochortus splendens. This charming native lily is pale lavender to lilac and may also be grown in the garden.

Wildflowers are usually seen on the protected eastern and northern sides of hills where the soil is a good sandy loam. Most of these natives grow rapidly.

When spring arrives they will shoot up and bloom profusely for weeks, and as the weather heats up, disappear with the same rapidity.

Many gardeners try to introduce the brilliant red of the coast paint brush, Castilleja affinis, into their garden. Invariably they will fail, as these plants are dependent on the roots of a host for water.

In some cases, they are beneficial to its host. The paint brush seems to help plants that have been damaged by deer or mountain bikes conserve water. This enables the host plant to get a fresh start and sprout new leaves.

Continuing downward, we were drawn to the pale blue flowers of black salvia, Salvia mellifera.

These plants are a dominant member of the coastal sage plant community and useful in restoration of natural slopes.

Alan discovered that the leaves are quite pungent when crushed and its flowers were inviting both to the honey bees and Anna’s hummingbirds.

Blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium bellum, lined our walkway as we paused to admire the canyon beckoning below.

It blooms with exuberant blue-purple flowers and is a useful ornamental plant. Adjacent were the pretty deep blue flowers of the wild hyacinth, Dichelostemma pulchellum. A bulb, also known as blue dicks, thrives in sunny banks in the garden and blooms for several months.

Our final descent found us in a field of black mustard, Brassica nigra.

Although the yellow flowers are breathtaking, it is considered an alien in this locale and is being eradicated in other local wilderness parks.

As we reached the mouth of Wood Canyon, we sat briefly on a bench, and enjoyed the sounds of wild birds and the refreshing solitude of nature.

I felt wonderfully refreshed upon my return home to Catharine, imbued with a peaceful, easy feeling that comes after a period in the wilderness. The hike, albeit brief, kept me smiling for hours.

STEVE KAWARATANI is married to writer Catharine Cooper. He can be reached at (949) 497-8168, or e-mail to plantman2@mac.com .