My recollection of over thirty springs spent in Butte County is that by late April most of our grasslands are well on their way to turning light brown and the majority of our showiest wildflowers have withered. With the more-or-less regular waterings we’ve received this spring we can actually begin to understand what is meant by the old saying “April Showers Bring May Flowers”.
About 3 miles east of Chico, near where highway 32 meets old Humboldt Road, a sweeping left turn in the road has hosted an impressive bloom of lupines for the past month. The ongoing precipitation has kept them fresh and colorful, and a delight to drive by every day on my way to the valley from Forest Ranch. Something about the thin layer of soil atop a rocky base seems to encourage wildflower growth, perhaps it’s the heat generated by having the rock so near the surface.
In any case it’s been a rare treat, one that will be fondly remembered when most of the color leaves the hillsides for the long summer.
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