The Incredible Peach Orchard Bloom

Starting at about the 1st of March, and lasting about 10 ten days, there is an explosion of color in the orchards around Yuba City as the peach trees come into bloom with sprays of pink, ranging from delicate to intense.

It's my absolutely favorite bloom of the year, better even than the almond bloom and the wildflowers that follow in April.

Peach Blossoms near Yuba City

However, the bloom is limited to the area right around Yuba City and Marysville. I'm not sure why peach orchards in the Sacramento Valley center around the Yuba City/Marysville area, but it is the only significant area of peach production in the Valley (see map, below).

Distribution of Peach Orchards around Yuba City

Unfortunately, a lot of peach orchards were cut down during the real estate boom of the mid-2000's. Many of the home built on the former orchards now stand empty, a testament to boom's failure.

If you get the chance during the peak of the bloom (typically March 5-10), you should take a drive through the area surrounding Yuba City and Marysville to experience the intensity of the bloom.

Peach Blossoms & Mustard

Peach Orchard in Bloom

Peaches & Almonds in Bloom

Pink Peach Blossoms

Hallmarks of the Sacramento Valley: Downtown Sacramento

The Sacramento Valley has only one 'real' city - that is, a city with any sort of skyline. That city, of course is the state capital, Sacramento.

I've spent a lot of time in downtown Sacramento capturing the skyline, from the riverfront to Old Sacramento to the state capitol building. And though Sacramento lacks anything resembling the skyline of San Francisco (or even Los Angeles or San Diego), it does have it's own unique character.

He are a few photographs that help portray Sacramento as a growing modern city, but one with historic roots and it's own environment. You can view my complete library of stock images of Sacramento on my main website.

California State Capitol Building

Tower Bridge

Late Afternoon in Old Sacramento

Dusk in Old Sacramento

Wells Fargo Center

Sacramento Skyline at Night

Renaissance Tower and Light Rail

Sacramento Riverfront at Dusk

State Capitol Building at Dusk

The Delta King Riverboat

I hope to make several trips to Sacramento this spring to build my stock library of images of the city.

Spring is Coming!

Despite all the rain and gray weather we are having, spring is coming. I promise. And with it will come green hills and wildflowers. I'll be doing more posts in the next month or so on spring photography, but here's a taste of what you can expect to see as the weather warms and the skies clear.

You can view all of my photos tagged with 'spring' on my main website.

California Poppies north of Chico

Wildflowers and Mount Lassen, from the Vina Plains, north of Chico.

Oak tree along Leesville Road, west of Williams

Owls Clover on Table Mountain

Sutter Buttes in Spring

February - Almond Blossom Month

Mid-February is special and particularly beautiful time in the Sacramento Valley; the time when the hundreds of thousands of acres of almond trees bloom.

California produces 80% of the world's almonds, and winter wouldn't be complete without the endless sea of white flowers that appear for two weeks every year.

Here is a sample of what the orchards look like during the bloom (you can see my full set of almond orchard images on my main website):