Nan’s report: I may have missed my calling. I almost became a field biologist and now I’m almost regretting that didn’t happen. I love being out in nature, looking at plants, watching birds and lizards and rabbits and the occasional coyote scurry past.
Geology fascinates me though I know very little about it. The air outside the city is different…fresher, more alive somehow. I feel so much at home in those kinds of place.
When we shot Chaparral, the Elfin Forest, we invited California Chaparral Institute director Rick Halsey to lead our expedition. There’s no doubt that Rick knows a lot about chaparral. But his knowledge is nearly overshadowed by his enthusiasm and his sheer excitement at being out in the field.
We had a ball shooting with Rick, as you’ll see.
We spent more time with Rick that you might expect from watching the show. It’s edited to look like it was all shot in one long day, starting at the desert and ending at the coast. In truth, however, we spent close to four days just shooting video!
As often happens, the show was shot out of sequence. We started with the maritime chaparral atTorrey Pines State Natural Reserve, simply because its location between Del Mar and La Jolla is so close to home for the crew and me. A few weeks later, we headed east. Here’s a little behind-the-scenes info.
I’ve walked the trails at Torrey Pines many times but never under the tutelage of Rick Halsey. I learned things about the Reserve and its habitats that were entirely new to me. We scrambled through old grizzly bear trails, listened to birdcalls, and of course looked at the plants. I was amazed to see how many walkers and runners are in the reserve at all times, all day long in the middle of the week! It’s such a beloved location and we are so lucky to have it so nearby.
A few weeks later, we went into the backcountry to explore other chaparral habitats. The generous folks at Camp Stevens in Julian gave us room in one of their dormitories late on a Saturday night. Before sunrise the next morning, the crew met up with Rick by Dudley’s Bakery in the heart of Santa Ysabel. We headed east, through Ranchita and started our descent towards Anza Borrego. In the distance, the Salton Sea shimmered under a raspberry colored dawn sky.
We stopped just before the park entrance to explore the desert vegetation’s transition to chaparral. It’s a spikey, spiny, spare habitat with much more life than you can imagine from behind the car window. Next time you head that direction, pull off the road and take a stroll to see what I mean.
From there we headed to Mount Laguna to explore the montane chaparral. Up and down the highway we went, as Rick searched for “just the right spot.” Now, keep in mind that we were a caravan. Rick and I were in his truck, Michael the videographer and Glenn the soundman were in Michael’s Forerunner. Marianne rode solo in her Volvo wagon (I think she just needed some “personal time.”)
We stopped in one location where the black oaks (Quercus kellogii) were wearing their golden fall foliage. That wasn’t the “right” spot, however, so we kept going. Turned out that the “right spot” included a true “elfin forest,” where the live oak trees (Quercus agrifolia) were only slightly taller than Rick (and he is really tall). A thick blanket of red trunked manzanita and other shrubs blanketed the hillsides, sculpted short by the constant wind. It was beautiful.
After dark, we hauled our tired bones to the Orchard Hill Country Inn in Julian. Such a lovely place! The little cottages are incredibly well done. My room had a two-sided glass fireplace. One side faced my room with its cozy four-poster bed. The other side faced the dressing area and bathroom. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a fireplace in a bathroom! Dinner was delicious, the hospitality was incredible, and we soon fell into bed, exhilarated and exhausted.
The next morning, we on the road before dawn again, brown bag breakfast and lunch in hand (thank you thank you Orchard Hill Country Inn!). We headed south on a long drive to see the redshank chaparral near Descanso. Redshank is Adenostoma sparsifolium, a tall shrub whose shreddy red bark reminds me of bison or wildebeest. We scrambled up and down the hillsides and even found some native peonies and clematis growing in the underbrush.
You’ll see more plants when you watch our show, and as you do, notice the ways each plant has evolved to living in a dry, arid habitat. Some plants evolved succulence, so their leaves, stems, and branches store water in reserve for times when there is no rain. The broad leaved plants get small – the smaller the leaf, the less surface area from which to lose water into the atmosphere. Some plants are fuzzy. Those tiny hairs (fuzz) help slow evaporation from the leaf surface. And some plants turn their leaves almost vertical to keep them out of the sun and from overheating.
The natural world is amazing, and has many lessons to teach us. That’s just what we’ll continue show you, on A Growing Passion.
Pingback: Garden Native Tour fundraiser | California Native Plant Society