Here's something you might be interested in.
Ice Plant is responsible for many of the carpet-like splashes of yellow, pink, red, and purple we're beginning to see around San Diego. Popular as a ground cover for concealing and stabilizing road cuts or any other easily eroded slope, ice plant covers the shoreline bluffs at La Jolla, road embankments in Rancho Santa Fe and Balboa Park, and front and backyards from Point Loma to El Cajon.
Ceanothus, or wild lilac, begins it annual blooming cycle this month -- at least in the warmer coastal areas. Assuming sufficient rainfall arrives, by sometime in March virtually every chaparral-covered canyon and hillside on the coastal strip may exhibit blue- or white-flowering specimens. The peak of the ceanothus bloom will work its way eastward, reaching Ramona and Alpine by March or April, and the Palomar, Cuyamaca, and Laguna mountains by April or May. For the next several years, ceanothus growth will be rampant in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, where the devastating 2003 Cedar wildfire incinerated nearly all of the trees, and opened up opportunities for post-fire, pioneering vegetation such as the ceanothus species.
A Series of Low Tides commences this weekend, offering good opportunities for tidepooling along San Diego's rocky sections of coastline. Saturday, February 21 features a -0.5 foot tide at 1:46 p.m. Sunday's low tide of -0.7 feet happens at 2:10 p.m. Monday's low of -0.7 feet occurs at 2:34 p.m.
A Multi-Planet/Moon Gathering takes place early on Sunday, February 22. From any locale with a clear view of the eastern part of the sky, starting around 5:45 a.m., scan the lower southeastern sky for (listed left to right): faint Mars, bright Jupiter, faint Mercury, and the waning crescent moon. This row of celestial objects spans only about 10 degrees of sky, just above the horizon. Binoculars will definitely help. By 6 a.m. the increasing dawn's glare may render these objects nearly invisible.
Ice Plant is responsible for many of the carpet-like splashes of yellow, pink, red, and purple we're beginning to see around San Diego. Popular as a ground cover for concealing and stabilizing road cuts or any other easily eroded slope, ice plant covers the shoreline bluffs at La Jolla, road embankments in Rancho Santa Fe and Balboa Park, and front and backyards from Point Loma to El Cajon.
Ceanothus, or wild lilac, begins it annual blooming cycle this month -- at least in the warmer coastal areas. Assuming sufficient rainfall arrives, by sometime in March virtually every chaparral-covered canyon and hillside on the coastal strip may exhibit blue- or white-flowering specimens. The peak of the ceanothus bloom will work its way eastward, reaching Ramona and Alpine by March or April, and the Palomar, Cuyamaca, and Laguna mountains by April or May. For the next several years, ceanothus growth will be rampant in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, where the devastating 2003 Cedar wildfire incinerated nearly all of the trees, and opened up opportunities for post-fire, pioneering vegetation such as the ceanothus species.
A Series of Low Tides commences this weekend, offering good opportunities for tidepooling along San Diego's rocky sections of coastline. Saturday, February 21 features a -0.5 foot tide at 1:46 p.m. Sunday's low tide of -0.7 feet happens at 2:10 p.m. Monday's low of -0.7 feet occurs at 2:34 p.m.
A Multi-Planet/Moon Gathering takes place early on Sunday, February 22. From any locale with a clear view of the eastern part of the sky, starting around 5:45 a.m., scan the lower southeastern sky for (listed left to right): faint Mars, bright Jupiter, faint Mercury, and the waning crescent moon. This row of celestial objects spans only about 10 degrees of sky, just above the horizon. Binoculars will definitely help. By 6 a.m. the increasing dawn's glare may render these objects nearly invisible.