Garden of La Mancha

Iris Rootborer

2008-07-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Last year I noticed a few of the irises yellowing and that even green leaves loosely fell off the plants. While I was proud, to pinpoint the problem (below, fairly obvious), I was sad to have to destroy the afflicted plants. This year it seems that the rest of the doug irises in the coastal prairie are succumbing and I don't know what to do.

Ugly/Beautiful

2008-06-30T11:41:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick article from philly.com about an eccentric man and his garden. Skimpy on the gardening, but we share some thoughts:

"Ugly can sometimes be beautiful, but merely pretty can never be beautiful," he says. "Things that are really beautiful keep you coming back because they're not just attractive, they're compelling."

Green Daylily

2008-06-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Check out Frances's green daylily. While I normally despise daylilies (sorry Frances, if you're reading this, it's just me...I prefer Lilium), there is something about green (and black actually) flowers that make them candidates for a dream garden.

Phormium

2008-06-24T20:07:00.001-07:00

I have a landscaper friend who had to leave town for a couple of months, so I've been doing the gardening for a few of her clients on the weekends. It's been fun.

Anyway, I want to remember this:

Forget landscape tape--that nasty oily tape that one has to buy, that may never biodegrade, and that usually stands out in a garden despite being green. The Phormium tenax growing in the pot over there has a few browning leaves it won't miss. Cut them off, shred them into a few strips. There. They work wonderfully.

Food, fiber, firewood, building material, medicine...what are the resources around you?

June Bloom Day

2008-06-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

The prairie is at peak bloom. The lupines are nearly finished, but the Armeria maritima, yarrow, and others have taken off.

Mimulus aurantiacus. What I've learned this season is that while my winter pruning helped keep them bushy (though one did not survive the harsh cutting back--ok because of seedlings), the ones left unpruned bloomed several weeks earlier. It's a trade off.

There are a few random wildflowers. I didn't sow a mix this year, so these were probably spawned from last year's crop. Collinsia heterophylla.

I planted about seven Aquilegia formosa last year. The full sun and poor soil are keeping them pretty short with only a couple flowers per plant, but as the meadow fills in I hope more an more will appear. I've noticed a few seedlings already.

Sisyrinchium californicum
Ok, some more clover shots. Trifolium wormskioldii in front of a golden mystery sedge.

The fountain has Lotus 'Amazon Sunset' and lemon variegated thyme blooming (society garlic blooms come from a pot on the back porch). The Triteleia laxa 'Queen Fabiola bulbs have not produced blooms (or even buds yet), but they were planted extremely late for bulbs.

Today I bought a pygmy white waterlily, Nymphaea 'Candida,' to give to my dad for Father's Day (kind of a self-serving gift...but he did want one!).

Ah, this is what the bulbs in the fountain should look like when they bloom. This Triteleia has been here a few years, in a bed behind the fountain.

Water parsley is blooming in the middle of Juncus patens.

Eleocharis macrostachys, a snippet propagule, is blooming. This will eventually go in the bog.

Mimulus guttatus is blooming all around the bog.

Ok, I've got wrap this up. Fuchsia procumben is growing under a potted hydrangea. The blooms are small, not much longer than a thumbnail, but have you seen a more colorful flower? Check out the blue pollen.

Obsessions

2008-06-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

Just a self-indulgent look at two plants.

Euphorbia bupleurifolia, the pineapple or pine cone euphorbia. My favorite plant.
I love its bizarre form and how the leaves and flowers seem to shoot out the top. It's from the southern cape region of South Africa, and is apparently endangered. I bought mine at an Arcata Farmer's Market (in CA) five (?) years ago for $10, and haven't seen it for sale anywhere else or I would buy a few more. I'd like to at least acquire one female plant, since mine is male, and supposedly it's relatively easy to raise from seed. Has anyone out there seen these for sale?

I'm mentioning the plant now because there has been a new development: a little side branch is appearing.

I will miss its old simple form, but am curious to see what it will look like. (To see an incredibly cool specimen of this species click here.)

The second plant I have obsessed over before. Trifolium wormskioldii, the Springbank clover. This is how the story goes. I saw some flowerless clover growing near the shore of Big Lagoon on a canoe trip. I took a piece because the leaves had a "native" look--they didn't look like red or white clover. I put the piece in a pot waited a year and had a pot full of the stuff. Transplanted some into the garden. Last year it bloomed and it's identity was confirmed.

Turns out it was an important vegetable for the native peoples of the northwest. I propagated it more and more (piece of cake--just pull off piece with nodes and insert in soil). It's spread beautifully. Last year there were maybe 5 flowers, this year there are dozens.

(Sorry the picture's so dark.) The propagation continues as we have a lot of wet clay that needs cover, and I have to say, it's my favorite plant in the garden right now. I hope to introduce this plant to our local chapter of the California Native Plant Society. It'd be good for sales. Tips I will humbly offer: put it in a sunny, moist place and cut it to the ground in winter if you want to maintain a tidier patch. C'est tout.

Arcata Community Forest

2008-05-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

The Hike
I used to go several times a week on this same trail when I was attending Humboldt State University. I've been living nearby off and on for the last couple of years, but when I am staying in the area I go at least once a week. It's not the most impressive redwood forest, since it's a second-growth managed forest, but there are wonderful corners here and there where you can feel lost.

( I have been lost several times in this forest..this is how I originally found the trail.)

Katie is home for the summer and so is our mom's poodle, Annie.

The Color
May is a good time for a hike. I've been impatient, but the Clintonia andrewsiana are finally beginning to bloom. When the flowers dissappear, they'll be replaced by spectacular blue egg-shaped berries. I have Clintonia seedlings growing in a flat at Bayside, but it will be several years before they look like this.

The diversity of flower color in douglas iris is intriguing. My favorites are the pale blue ones, but they also come in deep red-purple, and intermediate shades.

Mimulus dentatus is one of those plants I discovered, propagated, and identified. There's now a nice patch growing in thre creek near the Bayside House. It's similar to M. guttatus the common yellow monkeyflower, but is more graceful and delicate. The leaves are thinner and softer with serrated edges, and the flowers are more trumpet shaped. It also blooms much earlier.

Rubus parviflorus is spineless with big soft maple-like leaves, large flowers, and edible berries. The Northcoast Journal published a nice article about this plant. (I think the berries are like a mild rasperry.)

The Greenery

Streptopus amplexifolius var. americanus, the twisted stalk. It's form is very architectural.

And underneath, where the flowers hange, the plant is glaucus blue.

Blechnum splicant, the common deer fern, is uncommonly cool.

The spore producing leaves are more skeletal, and they'll turn dark and dry when they go into production

while the vegetative leaves begin as lime zigzags and darken into a more subtle green.

Fully back from it's winter rest, is the five-fingered fern, Adiantum pedatum.

The black wiry stems and leaf ribs were, and perhaps are, the main source of black basketry material for the native peoples of the area.

The fresh growth of conifers stand out in the darkness. Here are the new needles of the coastal redwood, Sequoia sempervirens.

The immature berry of Rubus spectabilis, the salmon berry.

Flowers of the piggyback plant, Tolmiea menzesii, common houseplant elsewhere, a native forest dweller locally.

It's cousin, Mitre's wort, Mitella caulescens, which I simply can't stop looking at.

The bright suspended stars of Trientalis borealis.

Petasites frigidis next to sword fern, Polystichum munitum, and redwood sorrel, Oxalis oreganum.

Polystichum munitum.

Sunlight

Time to emerge from the shadows.

Same time next week okay?

Coastal Prairie and More

2008-05-18T14:40:00.001-07:00

Coastal Prairie

If only the whole prairie looked this full. Sure we have some nice Lupinus polyphyllus, and CA poppies (solid orange, as well as the yellower coastal variety, below)

and some Iris douglasiana, Juncus balticus, J. patens, Deschampsia caespitosa,

yarrow, Aremeria maritma (below), and more,

but most of it's bare. The camera lies, or at least exaggerates. What gives me hope are the smaller plants coming in. The Mimulus aurantiacus should be much larger this summer, and there are more Clarkias and grasses appearing. One day it will be a dense green mound smattered with wildflowers.

Propagation

Sometimes I take little pieces of plants from my hikes with me (too tiny to weigh on my conscience, and never a whole plant) and stick them in pots. Wait a winter and most of them usually take root and grow. There are actually a few different species in this little ceramic, but what you see is some unknown (to me) species of claytonia blooming. It's a wispy thing, but I like it. I hope it produces seed.

Other Cool Plants in Bloom

On the shady side of the house, the Vancouveria hexandra are blooming in front of some doug irises. I'm fond of its leaves, which look to me like pale green puzzle pieces.

We also have our prized specimen of Rhododendron occidentalis, our native azalea. (Which, by the way grows at the edge of the Big Lagoon Bog, but they weren't blooming yet.)

And lastly, these pictures are from a few weeks ago, but this mystery Carex on the property deserves to be in a post.

Can you think of another plant with pure black and white flowers?

Bog of Big Lagoon

2008-05-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned this bog before, so let's finally have a tour. This is the bog of Big Lagoon. It's a mucky inaccessible place, especially after the winter floods, but that's how it has been so well preserved.

I walk very carefully when I visit, not because of the muck (which is unavoidable), but because I don't want to step on too many plants. After all, there are a few endangered species in the mix. Luckily once I got in there I found a good elk trail and stuck to it.

This place is diverse. Big time. I found this great checklist online that's helping me identify things. Click on the checklist link for a full species survey of the area.

This is the Macloskey's violet, Viola macloskeyi

And nestled underneath those lovelies are Drosera rotundifolia (!). Tiny.

Much more subtle are these little spike rushes, Eleocharis pachycarpa.

The elk trail lead me back into the old spruce forest. There I saw an A-frame fort, coming along nicely.

And, the most "exotic" of native wildflowers, the elusive Calypso orchid, Calypso bulbosa. I do have a secret patch of these, but this one was all alone and nowhere near the patch.

It's named after Calypso, the beautiful blind enchantress from the Odyssey. She was secretive, and so is this little dragon of a flower; their blooms are unpredictable. While this lone plant in the dark forest had a bloom, my secret patch had none.

Forest Finds

2008-05-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry this blog has been so sluggish lately. My internet access, time and energy has been limited and my camera batteries have been dead for some time (and my charger's at the cabin). Lame, I know. These pictures I took with my sister's camera (except the fern above, which was taken by Katie, herself) in the Arcata Community Forest.

The forests are green and fresh right now. While trilliums are fading, ferns (like Blechnum splicant photographed by my sister, above) are still unfurling, clintonias are nearing bloom, and many of the more obscure wildflowers have fully arrived.

This is twisted stalk, Streptopus amplexifolius var. americanus. Rare around here.

Mitella caulescens (I have this as a houseplant and it's forming flowers!)

Rubus spectabilis whose pink petals have fallen. It's now forming a berry.

Mitella ovalis is already producing it's strange seed in splash cups (appropriately adapted to rain dispersal).
Most of the Petasites frigidis has gone to seed. They're like compound dandelions, but the centers are a dark gold color. Very beautiful in the sunlight.

Fountain Update

2008-04-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Everything's growing well in the fountain and the Lotus 'Amazon Sunset' has begun blooming.

In the back, the Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola' bulbs have sent up their long slender leaves. And the Epilobium is still behaving itself.

Algae grows below, but not at lethal levels.

There were tons of frog egg masses...

...but now they're mostly tadpoles. There also are a few dragonfly nymphs, so they had better watch their backs.

The banana slugs have returned for the growing season. I've noticed significant damage on some of the lily seedlings, especially the Lilium rubescens for some reason. I've moved most of the liy pots onto overturned pots in the fountain. Since I live in Eureka, I can't check on them as much as I'd like.

It's not pretty, but what could be better than a moat?

Bear Valley

2008-04-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

From Philadelphia, my father and I flew into Sacramento to spend a couple days with my brother and his family in Woodland. There, we also met up with my mom, and one of my sisters visiting from Idaho. We decided to go for a drive through Bear Valley in Colusa County. You can read a blurp about Bear Valley from the American Land Conservancy here. I tried to do a little roadside botanizing, but as patient as my family is, I had to make it quick.

Purple was in good supply. There were brodiaeas (they were everywhere, I don't know why I don't have a picture), lupines, vetches, and even a few penstemons and delphiniums.

I really like this dandelion relative, but I don't know the name. (My botany skills are limited the further east I go.)

Here's some Castilleja with purple Vicia and somekind of yellow boragenaceous plant.

There were a few corrals at the beginning of the road that were filled with tidytips (Layia platyglossa).

Birds-eye gillia was sparse but beautiful.

Some Zigadenus. I told my family that this was death camas, the plant that was sometimes mistaken for camas, the edible bulb of native american and pioneer fame.

There was a sward of them.

Here's a poor picture of a lone yellow Calochortus, for any Calochortus aficianados out there (mmw).

And last on the tour, is a personal favorite: cream cups (Platystemon californicus).

Alas, from this time forth, every California wildflower is bittersweet.

I'm not dead

2008-04-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

But I am jumping off a cliff into the depths of Philadelphia to “hunker down” in the dark wood paneled halls to master my understanding of landscape. The campus is gothic and the program (and city) seems the type that will burn any weakness out of me. I will be white-hot when I finally emerge.

Already I'm planning my summer escapes back to California--maybe Santa Barbara or San Francisco--to fortify my horticulture and to reconnect with its plants and land.

I'm glad I have this summer to transition from one extreme (living alone at Big Lagoon) to the crowds and screaming subways. It's nuts.

Quick Garden Update

2008-03-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

The lily and Clintonia seedlings seemed to be doing just fine, but I have noticed that some of the leaf tips have been nibbled. Oh, and the Lilium washingtonianum spp. purpuratum have germinated. Mimulus lewisii, Mimulus cardinalis, Mimulus guttatus, Mimulus dentatus, and the shrubby Mimulus aurantiacus are all beginning active growth mode. The mature Lilium pardilinum bulbs have sent up their star-like leaf rosettes. I've transplanted Lupinus polyphyllus seedlings into the coastal prairie. The Aquilegia formosa have new bushy growth and some of last years Clarkias, despite being annuals, seem ready for another season.

Fork in the road: there is the possiblity of me moving to Philadelphia for three years to study landscape architecture. I've never been to the East coast and have never lived in a big city. But it's a possibility.

Sunlight

2008-03-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

March Bloom Day

2008-03-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

The sky is clear, but the earth's cold and wet. A walk through the Bayside forest reveals:

Clusters of Trillium ovatum

Carpets of tiny Viola sempervirens

the robust Petasites frigidus var. palmatus

and the lone Ribes roezlii(?)

Closer to the house, we have Heuchera micrantha

And a spring mix of Euphorbia "red wings" and tulips.

Other flowers not pictured: Ribes sanguineum, Lysichiton americanus, Claytonia sibirica, Vaccinium ovatum, Armeria maritima, one tiny little Madia sp., rosemary (year-round bloomer apparently), and Narcissus.

Lily Germination

2008-03-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

Remember the Lily Lady? Well, both gallon-containers of L. rubescens are sprouting! (The bunny ears above are two of many seedling.) Nothing's happening with the L. washintonianum spp. purpuratum (yet). Both gallon-containers of L. pardilinum have also sprouted. The Clintonia andrewsiana seed from the forest (mentioned in the Lily Lady post) sprouted a couple of weeks ago. Exciting!

I'm glad I filled the pots to the brim last fall (not worrying about a reservoir), as the Lily Lady suggested, because the soil has settled down almost an inch in the pots and they wouldn't be getting enough sunlight if they were much lower. The pots were outside in partial shade (behind the fountain) all winter long, except for the Clintonia (pictured below), which was in a flat in our forest (which has now been moved by the fountain) . I never watered the seeds. There was no pretreatment (except for the Clintonia, whose seeds were washed and soaked in warm water for 24 hours before sowing). There was no greenhouse or growlight involved. I used a seed starting mix.

Now if I can just keep them all alive--which really means protecting them from slugs (how do I do that?), not fussing over them too much, and letting them go dormant, and transplanting them at the right times-- for four or so years, I may have some flowering plants. Advice is always welcome.

Signs of Spring

2008-03-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

(Wild Prunus blossoms and Lysichiton americanus.)

The Winter of Unemployment is over. I am leaving my island of Big Lagoon and moving to Eureka, where I've accepted a job helping the Director/Curator of an art museum. I'm pretty excited. I have to see how much time I can spare, but since I'll be in Eureka, I hope to volunteer at the Humboldt Botanical Gardens. I also hope to find an affordable apartment with at least a sunny balcony for experimenting with seed propagation. Grad schools are still in the mix and I should be hearing from them starting at the end of this month. Time to wake up.

Container Planted

2008-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

You know, this may be the first container planting I've designed (well except for some mostly-failed attempts at bonsai landscapes), and I like it. It's green and silvery and hosts an unusual mix of plants: cultivars, natives, herbs. (Sorry, it's difficult to see, it's getting late.)

The Astelia 'Silver Spear' is in the middle while silver veriegated lemon thyme and Lotus 'Amazon Sunset' covers the front. I remembered the miscellaneous succulents that needed a new home, so I stuck them in ( they compliment the "terra cotta" nicely). There's a little green culinary sage stuck in the side too.

Here's a view of the back from the living room. It's a bit sparser, because I needed room for the dozen (?) Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola' bulbs and room for the Epilobium canum to spread.

We'll see how it goes this season.

Clash

2008-03-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I went to a local nursery with my mother: Bad idea!

When something manages to catch my eye, I decide either it’s too expensive, I need to know more about it, there must be a native that has a similar effect, or that I simply need to think about it. She, on the other hand, likes anything with color, especially what matches her "house colors." And unlike me, she hardly blinks at the thought of spending. Our missions were supposed to be separate: I'm planting the fountain, she's planting the window boxes.

After an hour and half of debating ceramic pots and primroses, I find a plant that takes me off guard. It’s bold and all silver and green. Astelia chathamica“Silver spear.” Mm hmm, the name conjures up endangered Hawaiian silverswords and dark forest myths.

I make sure it can live where it’s going to be planted: in a dry fountain with full sun. Here on the coast, it can do just that. Eventually it may out grow it’s space, but this is a plant I would be happy to divide into two, one for my garden some day…

My mom wasn’t going to let me leave without getting flowers to put in the fountain. I’d already planned on putting Epilobium canum (which I already have) in there for some fall color (and to keep it contained). I was willing to try a crimson lotus cultivar 'Amazon Sunset' because they were unusual to me and my mom liked them. I also broke down and bought some Triteleia “Queen Fabiola” bulbs, even though they’re cultivars (of native T. laxa). See, I can compromise.

So that's what's going in the fountain: Astelia in the middle; triteleia, lotus, epilobium on the edges--with variegated lemon thyme as a green filler. But they're not going to be evenly distributed along the rim. It's going to have a clunky jungle look. Eventually I'd like some big silver dudleys here and there.

Risky color combo for sure. I think red, silver, and purple look good together, but they have to be the right shades, you know? Will the Triteleia be dark enough? Will the lotus be too orange? And then there's the outside paint color and the plants in the bed behind it. I'm getting nauseous thinking of the possibilities.

Since the container will be draining into the bottom pool, I also need to make sure to keep the soil on the lean side, so we don't get lethal algal blooms below. Last year there were many many tadpoles.

In the pool we’re going to put (in pots) pygmy white (?) water lilies in the front (need to order), cattails in the back (already have), and hopefully, someday, some native Sagittaria or Alisma on the sides.

With enough green in the mix any colors can look good together, right?

Tsurai

2008-02-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a book called The Four Ages of Tsurai, which is a compilation of the European accounts (including one by botanist Archibald Menzies) of the small Yurok village of Tsurai, which was just below the modern town of Trinidad, where I go for internet and library books.

"Olega’ “where they come.” A place near the end of the present wharf which got its name because objects continually drift ashore there."

Trinidad Head is a great place to see plant diversity.

Ribes sanguineum.

The flowers, as you can see, are very beautiful. They're one of the most popular CA natives in cultivation.

I don't know what this litte plant is. Shame.

This is the old lighthouse (but it still lights the way).

Equally exciting is what I can't see.

"Ko’ixkulole’gwo m, “perforated stone where it is covered.” The spot is a cave just below the lighthouse. People took aromatic angelica root (wo’lpei) into the cave and put it into a pool of water in a recess of the cavern. The water would whirl when this was done. If this root (used in many religious and ceremonial connections) was employed by the person in some undertaking,
it would turn out well."

And here's where you get the root, Angelica (lucida?). I wanted to introduce this plant to our property because it's flowers attract pollinators. I had no idea it also attracted luck.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) is a common plant along the coast. The berries are good in muffins, and have an interesting crunch to them.

This is the silk tassel shrub (Garrya eliptica). The catkins are very showy this time of year and give the whole plant a "mossy bayou" look.

Trinidad Head may be the best place to find Mimulus aurantiacus in this area. I saw it in gardens before I noticed it in the wild. Here's a tiny plant growing on a rock.

Fringecup (Tellima grandiflora) is a common ground cover in the shade, yet we don't have any in Bayside. (Even stranger is our very sparse amount of Oxalis oreganum, the most common redwood forest plant anywhere else.)

There are many beautiful old Ceanothus thyrsiflorus trees here. (They really should be called trees, in Trinidad at least.) They remind me of African accacia trees because of their form and the many little thorn-like branches.

Much of the head is covered in deciduous thickets. Thimbleberry, Twinberry, Blackberry, Gooseberry, and...poison oak.

It seems the Tsurai had a name and story for every rock along the coast. I wonder if today's fishermen have named all the rocks (I bet they have).

Joseph Cambell says, "People claim the land by creating sacred sites, by mythologizing the animals and plants—they invest the land with spiritual powers. It becomes like a temple, place for meditation."

History, hikes, and gardening are great ways to build your temple.

Through intermarriage with whites, disease, and migration to reservations, Tsurai faded away and was completely abandoned by 1914. California has a violent history, especially in respects to the orginal inhabitants. (The Wiyots, the Yuroks southern neighbors who inhabitted Bayside, were massacred nearly to extinction.) But the town of Tsurai faded quietly away.

I haven't confirmed this, but according to the book, the site of Tsurai is grown over, but is marked by a great pepperwood tree (Umbellularia californica).

"If aromatic angelica root was burned beneath its branches and a person prayed for rain, the rain would come in two days...Children were warned to stay away from this tree lest bad luck befall them. If an infant died, the mother...hung the cradle in its branches."

The world is composed of sacred sites.

Buds in the Forest

2008-02-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

Buds and flowers are appearing in the forest. Male catkins are emerging on the california hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica), above. And, more excitingly, so are the bright red styles of female slowers.

Yep, hazel is monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same individual plant). Last fall I blogged about hazelnut here.

Western coltsfoot (Petasites palmatus) is also emerging. The inflorescences look like little wrapped bouquets, don't they? Each of these rosy buds will stretch away from the stalk forming an umbel-like spike. Then they'll each open as a white "daisy."

Western coltsfoot next to my foot, for scale. The leaves can grow at least twice as large as the leaf shown.

Ribes sangineum is nearly flowering. I never noticed that there were floral bracts just as pink as the flowers.

And some of the willows (Salix spp.) are forming their silky catkins.

There are other things blooming in the forest. The Vaccinium ovatum has been at it for a while, and so has Claytonia sibirica.

well said

2008-02-17T13:51:00.002-08:00

"At daybreak, if the weather is fine, I go into the garden. This time of day is very special to me. I look at the sky. It's very clear and I see the stars and have this special feeling--of my insignificance in the cosmos. The realization of what we Buddhists call impermanence. It's very relaxing. Sometimes I don't think at all and just enjoy the dawn and listen to the birds."

The Dalai Lama from A Policy of Kindness p. 48.

Hidden Road to Patrick's Point

2008-02-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

Go alone. Bring a knife. Put food in your pocket (and a cell phone). This is where the hidden road at Big Lagoon begins. Yes, you have to cross a perilous "bridge" where the road has eroded into the ravine on both sides.

Then the road dives into spruce and redwood forest.

See, it's a highway, forgotten.

Many, many paces later the road dissappears completely. Don't think about bears or mountain lions.

You see a trail that sharply veers to the right. Follow this through the redwoods.

After many, many paces, and after climbing over trees fallen by winter storms, you'll emerge on a road. If you look closely through the trees you'll see a Yurok house through the spruce and alders. Find the path into Sumeg Village.

You see no one there. Crawl through the circular door of a house and enjoy the extremely dark and quiet moment.

You emerge from the earth and walk around the village admiring the structures, like this sweat house.

You find a narrow mossy path to a native plant garden. You wonder when it was last tended; it's the wildest garden you've seen in a long time. But would you really want to change anything?

Then the forest opens and you see a vast coastal prairie: douglas iris, salal, native blackberry, yarrow, and pacific reed grasses.

You step onto the Rim Trail because you've never been there.

And discover a meadow of sedges just around the corner.

And notice first flowers of spring: salmonberry barely unfurling their petals.

You wander aimlessly. It's imperative to lose yourself for a while.Tthen you can find the trail back home. Here it is: the beach below the sandy cliffs.

You watch as a few dark figures pick through the rocks looking for agates. You ask the ones you pass if they're having any luck. Just small ones. Then you jog home to give your lungs a stretch.

Not a bad place to live, really.