April Showers

April Showers

Bring May Flowers! This has been an exceptionally wet Spring in Southern California. This is good news – not only is the snow pack in the Sierra’s at record levels,  but reservoirs are near full, chance of wildfires is abated, draught conditions lifted…and both wild and domestic flora is blooming! This shot shows the colorful variety of the Flower Fields in Carlsbad.

The fields today are a direct result of over 85 years of floral cultivation that began when Luther Gage, an early settler and grower settled in the area in the early 1920’s. Mr. Gage brought Ranunculus seeds to the area and began growing them in his fields next to Frank Frazee’s small vegetable farm in South Oceanside. This started a business called “Luther Gage Giant Tecolote Ranunculus bulbs”. The name “Tecolote” came from the owls that nested on his property. www.kerstenbeck.com