Date: March 05, 2010 @ 10:31 AM
Spring Flowers
When I think about “bloom” in Napa Valley, I normally think about when the vineyards are blooming to set the crop for the year (usually in May but it changes by variety, location, rootstock, exposure, soil, vintage…you get the idea). I happen to love it when the vines bloom, but it isn’t much to behold. They are nearly invisible at a distance. You could drive past all of our vineyards and never notice the grape flowers. They have such a subtle perfume that you have to know it to recognize the faint hints of flowering. I happen to love that smell.
Contrast the grape flowering with what is going on in Napa Valley right now. Color is exploding everywhere. If you have read The Phantom Toll Booth, you would think Chroma is working overtime. (If you haven’t read that book, get it and read it to any kid…including yourself, who will sit down long enough to get hooked on it.)
OK, this time of year is tough on allergies but at least there is a show to enjoy while you suffer.
What is blooming? On my street this morning I noticed; a big acacia tree so covered in yellow that it was hard to see the foliage, an old plum tree with delicate pink flowers, the almond tree starting to lose its white blooms, lots of bulbs; yellow daffodils (bit ripped by the rain), paper whites, red tulips, and more… You get the idea. There is color on every street and in most any yard.
You should see the bulbs blooming in front of the paddocks at Nickel & Nickel. I am sure that Star and Pearl would love to bite their little heads off. It is a brief show but it screams of spring to me.
Far Niente’s azaleas and rhododendrons are a few weeks away from starting to show their best color. Once the Pink Ruffles (type of azalea) gets going, I can see it from Highway 29!
While I am hearing about snow storms in New York and Iowa, we are seeing everything that grows waking up. I have always followed when the daffodils bloomed as an early indicator of when I thought the vines would start to push and frost might become a concern. Even though our flowering is well ahead of most areas, this is not an early year for Napa Valley. Given the dates of the flowering and the cool winter storms that have continued to blow through, I don’t think that we are going to have an earlier than normal bud break. (Of course one sustained heat spell in the next few days could change it all!)
