Driving around Lake Kaweah in the southern Sierra foothills east of Visalia, the landscape is transitioning from early to mid-spring bloom. Eastwood’s fiddlenecks are fading, and the hillsides are shifting from deep gold to brilliant yellow as the madia comes into flower. Surprisingly early this year, the harbingers of summer—speckled clarkia are already starting to make bold splashes of pink on the sunnier slopes. Amidst the pinks and yellow, are occasional patches of orange foothill poppies and pale blue fiesta flowers. Here and there, purple pagodas in their royal purple cloaks, add to this colorful oak woodland landscape. Annual lupines of two varieties, spider lupine and miniature lupine decorate the roadsides and slopes in varying shades of blue. Around the lake, the silver bush lupine floral show is fading as their developing seed pods are ...