Tomato Season

Cherry tomatoes

Vine Ripe tomatoes
at the farmer's market.

With the end of August comes tomato season across the United States. Here in California some of the most popular tomatoes are those cultivated without additional irrigation as the dry hot summer starts. Heirloom tomatoes are also very popular, along with the miniature Cherry or Grape style tomatoes.

Tomatoes are believed to originate in the highlands of Peru. They were under widespread cultivation as far north as Mexico by 500 BCE. The Spanish brought them to Europe and the Philippines in the late 15th or early 16th century. Due to their ease of culture they became a staple food in Asia and Europe.

Calochortus Parade, part 2

There are over 70 species of Calochortus, ranging from southern British Columbia and Alberta to extreme southern Mexico and adjacent Guatemala and east to the western Dakotas. Utah's state flower, the Sego Lily, is Calochortus nuttallii.

There are four major floral forms in Calochortus: The Mariposa Lilies, The Cat's Ears, the Globe Lilies, and the Star Tulips.

Today's Calochortus Parade will be the Globe Lilies:

Species, from the top: C. amabilis, C. pulchellus, C. albus, C. amoenus, C. albus, C. amabilis

Welcome to PlantWorld! (Dichelostemma ida-maia)

Dichelostemma ida-maia

Welcome to PlantWorld! Join me as I travel around California, the United States, and the world learning about native plants (and sometimes not so native) wherever I happen to be.

I try to get into the field every weekend during the flowering season, which in California extends from early March all the way to early September. I'll use this blog to talk about what I see and what I found interesting enough to share.

Dichelostemma ida-maia
'exploding' in mid-air

We'll start off with a really neat geophyte in the Themidaceae, Dichelostemma ida-maia, the firecracker flower of northern California and southern Oregon. I encountered this species along Covelo Road in southern Mendocino County, California.  I'd seen the species before in cultivation but it's always exciting to see the plant growing in a natural setting, even if it is beside a busy road. Luckily the road had decent shoulders and traffic was light so we stopped.

Calcochortus amabilis

Our initial reason for stopping was a pretty spectacular display of Calochortus amabilis and as we walked up that's when we noticed the Dichelostemma ida-maia. It really did look like fireworks setting off over the Calochortus.


This species is easy to grow in the garden and is available from specialty bulb nurseries.