Class recap

Hi everyone!  Thanks for a wonderful quarter.  I really loved hiking with you, you're all such cool people in your own unique way.  Thanks for sharing your time and energy with me and with the rest of the class!  If you have time, please fill out a brief evaluation at:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TS72JPK.  It's anonymous, and getting your feedback helps me improve the classes.

I'll be teaching two classes next quarter, and I hope you attend one or both.  The regular Peninsula Nature Hikes class will focus on redwood forest and coastal ecosystems.  It's FOUR sequential Saturdays (PAAS has an abbreviated summer schedule, so all the offerings are compressed).  June 11, June 18, June 25, and July 9.  Check it out at:  http://paadultschool.org/classes/peninsula-nature-hikes/

I'll also be teaching a new class:  Bilingual Nature Hikes.  This class will be every Thursday, from 6:30 - 8:00 PM, at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto.  Class dates are June 9, June 16, June 30, July 7, and July 14 (no class June 23).  This class will be a short evening wander in English and in Spanish to chat and make new friends in either language!  Learn more about it at:  http://paadultschool.org/classes/bilingual-nature-hikes.

Even if you cannot attend summer session, if you could post these links on your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or other social media account, I'd hugely appreciate it!

Now, here's some of the phenomenal stuff we saw today.

We started off checking out some native landscaping plants in the parking lot that hail from Southern California.  Matilija poppy was very popular.  This plant has the biggest flower of any poppy, and it's sometimes called "Fried Egg flower".  Once established it requires zero water or maintenance.  Here's a good little article:  http://www.matilijanursery.com/articles/growing-matilija-poppies/.

We looked at second growth redwood forest, with a complex of redwoods, douglas firs, tanoaks, and gorgeous madrones.  Interestingly, there was an article in my inbox about fire and redwoods:  http://www.livescience.com/8108-giant-redwood-trees-endured-frequent-fires-centuries.html.

We were lucky enough to see Chaparral Pea, Pickeringia montana, something that's almost impossible to grow in the home landscape.  Here's a picture of its incredible flowers, and of Jeanne, our resident photographer, photographing it.

And then I got very excited to see Calochortus tolmiei, Pussy ears, (I thought it was called pussy paws, I was close).  I've never seen this plant in the wild before, so it was a real treat for me!  Calchortus are such neat bulbs - their common name is Mariposa lily - each has individually marked nectar guides, like a person's fingertips.

Here's a neat slideshow of them:
https://flowersofmarin.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/plant-of-the-day-pussy-ears/






That's it for right now.  Thank you again for being in the class, and I hope to hike again with all of you soon!