April 12, 2012
We have been admiring these bushes since we first drove on I5 south when my husband interviewed for his current position a year ago. At the time, I didn’t know what they were – from a distance, they looked a little like lilacs but were much more vibrant purple in color. Now that we live here in Northern California – I have seen them a bloom and knew that it would be the perfect topic for a nature study.
While running along the river trail, it seemed the trail was lined with these colorful plants and it was now clear to me that the seed pods I had observed through the winter months were in fact the same plant as the vibrant purple blooms I had seen in the spring. I thereby snapped a picture .. posted it to Project Noah and awaited an identification. Within a few minutes, an email popped into my inbox indicating an identification had been posted, Western Red Bud . Yay! Project Noah makes it sooo easy. 🙂
I was delighted to discover that the kids said we had a Western Red Bud in our backyard. Technically, we don’t really have a backyard, but from our rear deck, one needs only to take a few steps to access the open space that is shared with our neighbors. My kiddos have taken quite the liking to this area – more on this soon. We thereby ventured out with our journals and pencils to sketch one afternoon. Sadly, my little guy wasn’t in the mood to journal with us – perhaps there were too many distractions. He busied himself with trying to catch yet another blue-bellied lizard, with whom he was become quite familiar.