LA Has No Seasons?

“LA is a desert because it has no seasons “

Welcome to seed season! Which also correlates with spider season and fig beetle season here in LA… (but those get their own separate posts)

Thanks to the Pacific Ocean acting as our air conditioner through May Grey, June Gloom, and sometimes No Sky July, we don’t really get into the heat of summer until August here in the chaparral and coastal Sage scrub of LA and Southern California.

My last post talked about how some of our brown earth tones hills aren’t really native, being filled with dried out invasive grasses and plants like Black Mustard.

But there are earth tones that are native to our summer months. As many of our native plants go to fruit and then seed in these hotter months plants like Laurel Sumac and California Common Buckwheat produce beautiful rusty reds that fill our native landscapes with seasonal colors!

Some native plants go dormant, and although they retain moisture in their stems, they also turn many lovely shades of brown and yellow, catching that famous California light at golden hour in the most beautiful of ways.

For some reason all these seasonal qualities to the plants of Southern California go unnoticed by many but I think seed and Sumer dormancy season is just as photo worthy as our Spring super blooms, don’t you?

What is your favorite plant to see going to seed?

Much thanks to @ascothillsparkla for the up close native plant viewing opportunities. Check out their instagram and make sure to follow them to see the many opportunities to help restore native habitat, go on bird walks (next Saturday), and so much more!

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