My Town Monday: Flower Fields
It's a special time of year in San Diego County.
A time to stop and smell the roses. Well, the Ranunculus, to be exact. Well, the giant strain of Ranunculus called the Tecolote, to be even more exact.
The Carlsbad Flower Fields are open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm from March 1 until May 10. For about $8 (children pay less), you can wander the very very colorful 50-acre flower fields. There is even an outdoor sunrise Easter service at 6:15 am which includes a free breakfast.
Here's a little history for you. About seventy years ago, Luther Gage, an English horticulturist, immigrated to Southern California. He brought along some Ranunculus seeds. And this is how the first Ranunculus were planted in North America! The bulbs from this farm are now sold worldwide. And while the area around the Flower Fields has been taken over by development, the Flower Fields will always be run as a flower or agricultural farm because of a perpetuity agreement with the city of Carlsbad.
Here's the contact info:
The Carlsbad Flower Fields
5704 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad CA
phone: 760-431-0352
Please trundle over to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM, he'll have a list of participants.
Sources:
http://sandiego.about.com/cs/familyfun/a/flowerfields.htm
http://www.theflowerfields.com
Posts
I'm still waiting for my first chance to visit San Diego, so I'll admit that the flower field photo doesn't fit with my preconceived notion. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteWe're gearing up for another foot of snow! Thanks for the pick me up! :)
beautiful!!!!
ReplyDeleteactually....when we took my little brother to Legoland...one of my favorite things was a strawberry field where we could go out & just pick our own strawberries. Oh, it was great!
I may drag the troops down today. Those photos are gorgeous. I had no idea this was here. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWOW - it is cold, windy, snowy and icey here - oh how I crave the beauty of flowers and the sent of spring!
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me fall deeper into my winter blues!!!!!!
Love the pictures, Barrie. I didn't even know that there was a kind of flower called a "Ranunculus".
ReplyDeleteAfter this weekend, I so needed to see fields of flowers! Perfect timing. Thanks, Barrie!
ReplyDeleteWe are so frozen over. Flowers are a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers. That would be something to see. I had no idea they were there. Not like the poppy fields in Wizard of Oz I hope.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh ... the flower fields! I hope to get my dose of ranunculus sometime in the next two weeks. It's always so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! I think my husband would like Legoland better than the flowers. Looks like there's two things to please us!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding me of this! I am taking my family soon.:)
ReplyDeleteThose are really incredible!! Sometimes I DO miss San Diego. (Especially when it's TEN degrees here...)
ReplyDeleteBarrie, My wife loves flowers and enjoyed your post. Beautiful pics!
ReplyDeleteImpossible to believe that's in the same country as what I see in our fields.
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful and I am envious that you have flowers already.
ReplyDeletethe very first year of being a homeowner, i planted a huge ranuculus bed. i was faithful in their care. they were gorgeous as they started to bloom. and then on the week that the bed was SPECTACULAR, it hailed. i went outside to see what resembled chopped salad. really colorful chopped salad.
ReplyDeletei haven't had the heart to grow them since.
How beautiful, my daughter works in a flower shop, I think the ranuculus is a gorgeous and versatile flower. It would be amazing to see fields of them.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to be in a field of flowers. I wonder if they'd let me build a house there.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I am sitting here in the cold, gray Midwest wishing for a sight like this!
ReplyDeleteToo bad those pictures are not scratch and sniff.
ReplyDeleteI love SD in the spring. Even driving down the freeway is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers, and I can imagine the wonderful fragrance wafting on the breeze. What a delight to the environment.
ReplyDeleteThey should put you in charge of the San Diego Tourism Bureau (or whatever they call it)! You're giving me sooo many great ideas for my next trip, which I'm suddenly wishing was very soon.
ReplyDeleteI have a special fondness for ranunculas.
How lovely. Carlsbad isn't far from the O.C. and we haven't been down that way in a while, so maybe I'll suggest a day trip to the hubby. I'm glad the Flower Fields have that in perpetuity agreement. We've lost nearly all our agricultural land around here. There used to be tons of orange groves and strawberry fields.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I just want to move to San Diego now. Period. I always knew it was cool, but every Monday I learn about how much cooler it is than I ever even realized!
ReplyDeletePlus, Stacy, really cool people live here! Ha! I can hear my children snorting now!
ReplyDeleteThose fields are so pretty! I just love stuff like that. Do they smell as pretty as they look?
ReplyDeleteOh what blooms in San Diego weather!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful sight! If I were in the area at this time of year I would certainly stop to see this. I'm glad there's an agreement so that these fields won't be turned into some strip mall:)
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty!!!
ReplyDeletethat flower field reminds me of that scene in the wizard of oz where dorothy and friends run through it on the way to emerald city! :)
ReplyDelete