With four years of extreme drought, I guess the native trees took that 3" of rain as springtime, just in case it didn't rain again. The bloom was nowhere near as full as the spring bloom. Coast Live Oaks on the Red Car Property have not produced acorns in the couple of years, despite lots of pollinators.
It seems as if they don't bother reproducing in times of drought since the mature trees are conserving every drop of water. It makes sense as a survival strategy, as mature trees would be more likely than saplings to survive a prolonged drought. Two other native trees began blooming shortly after the oak trees, California Black Walnuts and Toyon.
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*Stuff You Missed This Year is our annual wrap up of interesting photos and things we just didn't have a chance to run, because everything seems to always happen at the same time.
