Santa Ynez Flora - part two

Santa Ynez has such a wonderful variety of wildflowers I could fill a week of posts about them! Unfortunately, distracted by finishing my post yesterday morning, I forgot to bring my camera to the wildflower lecture/hike. So my promise of a photo of a mariposa lily is being fulfilled by an image from flickr.com.

However, Ridgeline Ranch has an incredible bounty of wildflowers itself. I think this is due, in equal parts, to its proximity to the Sedgwick Reserve, and to the large flat area on the eastern boundary of this rare property this is never subjected to cattle grazing . That area is protected from the road and the view of other Woodstock homes by the ridge on one side and Sedgwick's facing ridge on the other. Ultimate seclusion. A writer friend of mine lusts after the space as a retreat, wanting to build an office there so his creativy will blossom in the tranquility and serenity. Some have suggested that we use it for its vineyard potential but I'm glad we've let it stay wild.

Butterfly Mariposa Lily
Originally uploaded by NatureShutterbug

Back to blossoms, here are a just few of the flowers (in addition to the lupine and poppy I've already shown you) I found on my hike this morning on Ridgeline Ranch. I'm not adept enough at blogging to get more pictures in this post.


Top to bottom:


Filaree, an invasive non-native, imported as a high protein source for grazing cattle. Too much can cause a horse to founder.

Buttercup, a native

Blue Dick, a native. The bulb root of this plant was roasted by Chumash Indians and used as food.

Viola, a native. Also known as johnny jump up or yellow violet.

Santa Ynez Flora

Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria biflora) is a species of plant nativ
Originally uploaded by mikebaird

Santa Ynez has an amazing variety of flora and fauna. This morning we had a class on wildflowers for docents and docents in training at the Sedgwick Reserve.

It's easy to understand why Duke Sedgwick longed to buy this property for years. It was only after oil was discovered on his smaller parcel at Corral de Quati to the west was he able to afford what was then called Rancho La Laguna de San Francisco.

Duke was an artist - excelling as a sculptor - and a writer. He cherished the tranquility and seclusion the ranch afforded. He desired to leave the ranch which he described as a "large area of pristine beauty" to UCSB to "create a conjunction of land and learning."

With almost 6,000 acres, the Reserve itself has an incredible assortment of both flora and fauna. Unfortunately, as with much of California, even this rare property has been invaded by non-native plants. Some panoramic views include swaths of bright yellow which is mustard, a plant introduced by the Spanish as they explored Calfornia. Legend has it that the Spanish padres sprinkled mustard seed as they walked from one mission to the next so the flowers would reveal the route the following year.

However, the chocolate lily shown here is a true native. Its name comes from the color - not the scent as is the case with another lily. Other natives includes the Mariposa lily which is a lovely white with pink markings. I'll try to put up an image of that.

This is just a quick note. I'm off to dinner with my friend Doris Banchik, the best real estate agent in the Valley. She works for Sotheby's.

Santa Ynez Sedgwick Reserve

Santa Ynez is blessed to include Sedgwick Reserve. I've alluded to it several times and thought I should explain a bit more about it. It is regarded as the "crown jewel" of the University of California Natural Reserve System.

Here's why:

Encompassing 24 square kilometers (9.2 square miles) on the southern slopes of the San Rafael Mountains, the Sedgwick Reserve spans an elevational range of 500 meters (1,650 feet) and is noted for both its large size and environmental heterogeneity. The reserve contains two distinctive geologic formations: relatively young Paso Robles alluvium and much older Franciscan metamorphosed seafloor, including large areas of serpentine. Diverse vegetation types include coast live oak forest, blue oak woodland, valley oak savannah, buckbrush chaparral, coastal sage scrub, grassland, willow riparian forest, serpentine outcroppings, and agricultural lands. The site contains major portions of two watersheds and a variety of localized wetland habitats, notably vernal pools. The region has a rich Native American heritage, and at least one Middle Chumash habitation site (1,500 to 2,000 years old) rests on site. The reserve’s large size enables research of varying scales on native ecosystems.

Francis Minturn Sedgwick and his wife Alice DeForest Sedgwick purchased the land in 1952, using it to run cattle and as a family retreat. Because both were avid riders, the ranch included equestrian facilities. In 1997, it passed into the University of California Reserve System as a result of their bequest of the bulk of the land and a purchase of the remainder by the Santa Barbara Land Trust and other individuals. In connection with the funding, an agricultural easement was placed on several hundred acres which had both vineyard potential and potential for growing other crops. For those of you interested in genealogy, Francis and Alice Sedgwick were the parents of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's muse, and were also distant relatives of Kyra Sedgwick.

A recent benefactor of the Reserve is the Tipton Foundation whose gifts have led to solar power, improved roads and, most significantly, a meeting house built to the highest standards of energy conservation. It is a model for those who want to go "green."

Today scientific research is conducted on the Reserve as well as public education, aimed principally at elementary school children. The Reserve has an active corps of docents who lead public hikes once a month and act as teachers for the visiting students.

I've enjoyed my association with the Reserve as a docent tremendously. In fact, there is a class this morning in "Duke" Sedgwick's old art studio about local wildflowers. Gotta go learn more about the bright patches of color now appearing on my panoramic view.

Santa Ynez Schools

Santa Ynez Valley has three high schools and several elementary schools. I'm on the Board of Trustees at Dunn School and visited there today. That inspired me to write about our valley schools.

Two of the secondary schools are independent boarding schools that also accept day students. The third is a public school that draws students from Santa Ynez, Solvang, Ballard and Buellton.

My son's experiences as a freshman at La Canada High School caused him to retreat from education. Big classes and a tenured teacher slacker waiting for retirement turned him into an angry, indifferent student. He enrolled at Dunn School in Los Olivos as a sophomore. We followed him to this beautiful valley.

Dunn's small classes and individualized attention turned him around. He enjoyed the challenge of its advanced placement courses and its sports program. Because Dunn has international students from all parts of the globe (and all economic circumstances), he became much more of a citizen of the world. Today he's at Grinnell College in Iowa, one of the country's leading liberal arts colleges.

Our valley has another independent high school - Midland. It is also located in Los Olivos but is situated far out Figueroa Mountain Road on a former ranch and encompasses several thousand acres. It has strong academics with an emphasis on environmental education, addressing all things "green." It has a farm program and an equestrian program. The students are required to play an active role in the school's upkeep - even gathering wood to heat water for their showers. When my city boy heard that, he quickly demurred.

A sidenote is that Midland sits across the road from Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson's second home or is it his third or fourth? When Jackson was in residence, the Midland students had a direct view of fans standing outside Neverland's gate. He still owns the property but it's included in local real estate listings.

The third high school is Santa Ynez Unified High School. It has had very strong programs but has been hit hard by the budget cuts all public schools are facing.

Santa Ynez Swimming Hole

Santa Ynez has many informal swimming holes in addition to the terrific pool at the YMCA. Fritz and Anke happen to favor the horse trough on Live Oak Road in Woodstock Ranch. Here's a picture of them going for a swim - which is what prompted yesterday's trip to the groomer!

Woodstock has several of these troughs to accomodate residents who trail ride. I see riders on these trails almost every day. Not many of the second home folks who use their property as a retreat keep horse here, but lots of the full time residents do and have extensive equestrian facilities.

My nearby neighbors have Peruvian Paso Finos, Missouri Trotters and Icelandic horses. My old guy Cinch is a quarter horse who is enjoying his retirement from cutting competitions. Cutting is a cowboy sport based on the horse and rider's skill in cutting (or separating) a cow out from the herd. The horse is the skilled part of the equation. The rider's job is mostly staying out of the horse's way and in the saddle.

Some of the homes in Woodstock are in flat areas and others, like mine, are on ridges. Trails give the flatlanders a chance to appreciate the panoramic views from the highground. Only a handful of parcels abut the Sedgwick Reserve, and Ridgeline Ranch is a rare property having seculsion, tranquility and vistas over thousands of acres.

Santa Ynez Scenery

Santa Ynez has such gorgeous weather today (mid-70s), I decided to go for a ride while Fritz and Anke were at the groomers. I picked up a Cachuma Chicken sandwich at Los Olivos Grocery and headed up Figueroa Mountain. Wildflowers blanket the roadside, and the panoramic view from the top is spectacular. Although the area is now mostly protected wilderness, a few homes were built in the last century. Some are second homes, some are retirement homes. A few homes, like ours, were built to converse energy and qualify as "green construction." These are rare properties. 

Unfortunately, I'd depleted the battery in my camera by the time I got to the top so I'll share with you a shot of Grass Mountain, also in the same mountain range. You'll notice orange splotches on the mountainside which are masses of California poppies. Spectacular!

For a number of years, Lance Armstrong and his team trained on Figueroa Mountain for the Tour de France. The Santa Ynez Valley is full of biking enthusiasts. The Amgen Tour of California has held its time trials in Solvang the last two years. There are also events for amateur riders - albeit serious amateurs. The Solvang Century (100 miles) was held last month.

While these events are interesting, I'm glad that none are scheduled - or will ever be scheduled - in Woodstock Ranch. My home is on a relatively short (1.5 mile) road that deadends so we have very, very little traffic and no noise. The tranquility and seclusion is marvelous.

Santa Ynez Morning Fog

Santa Ynez Valley was blanketed in fog this morning as happens from time to time in the spring. It adds an air of mystery to the landscape as it obscures valleys allowing only peaks to be seen. The fog hid the panoramic view I have in virtually all directions. It burned off a couple of hours ago but here's a picture of Fritz I took as the sun was rising. 

He and Anke are going for a trip to the groomer in Los Olivos this afternoon. They enjoy the TLC and I enjoy sipping a class of Brander Sauvignon Blanc in the Los Olivos Cafe while I wait. 

When I moved to the Santa Ynez Valley, I was worried I'd miss the sophistication of the city but that hasn't been the case at all. Together, Solvang, Los Olivos and Santa Ynez offer a wide variety of shops and restaurants - even live theater at Solvang's PCPA.  I'm amazed at what's available just minutes away from my ridgeline retreat.