This afternoon we went to Silverwood hoping to see the Ceanothus Silk Moth. Phillip the resident manager had some bad news for us, “As you see, everything bloomed early this year. I saw just one moth and that was a month or two ago. Let’s see… we had a lot of rain in the fall and then nothing. All the plants started blooming because they thought it would be their only chance.” I love the way Phillip seems to know exactly what’s going on in the natural world and why. I guess that’s why he is the resident manager. “You only see them at night anyway,” he added. I felt a little foolish. We were hoping maybe they would be around at dusk. Since we were there anyway, we walked a bit around the sanctuary. As usual, I was glad we did. Even though we didn’t have a lot of time, it was enough to see that it was spring in Silverwood. The Silverwood Sanctuary is full of wild lilac trees, Ceanothus. Right now they are all in bloom. The hillside was covered in purple.

We walked around a little then headed over to the neighboring Oak Oasis Open Space area which is open until 5PM. The Ceanothus were even more amazing here. The trail wound down a hillside covered in purple. The scent of the lilacs was gentle like the coolness in the air. The sky was a clear blue. Where it ended, a sea of Ceanothus began. It looked like the trees had caught whispy pieces of the sky in their branches. Ceanothus trees are small so we could see billowing waves of their flowered upper branches rolling down the hill. Distant green hillsides were also dusted with purple.

There are a lot of beautiful things in nature, but their beauty has a harshness and inapproachability like snow capped mountain peaks and wild animals. The lilac forests have a gentility which would make an English gardener jealous. They don’t have the erotic flamboyance of tropical flowers. They don’t have the chaos of wild forests. Instead, their flowers have the primness of lace. They conjure images of Victorian picnics or impressionist paintings. The Ceanothus hillside dipped into an oak forest for which the area was named. Here we could hear California quail rustling and calling.

Useful Information: Both the Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary and the Oakoasis Open Space Preserve are located on Wildcat Canyon Road. From I-8, take hwy 67 to Lakeside, turn right onto Mapleview and then left onto Ashwood which becomes Wildcat Canyon Road. Oakoasis is about 4 miles up the road on the left and Silverwood is about 5 miles up on the right. Silverwood is run by the San Diego Audubon society and is only open to the public on Sundays from 9-4 from approximately October to July. Check the San Diego Audubon Society Web site for up to date information. Photos are copyrighted 2012 by Rowshan Dowlatabadi.