Early spring in Napa Valley is a magical time with mustard flowers blanketing the valley. It’s beautiful sight to behold.

Celebrating 30 years of marriage in Napa Valley

I can gush on and on about how gorgeous Napa Valley is in early spring in February and March. It’s a brief moment in time when the valley is covered in vibrant yellow mustard flowers, and we got to witness this spectacular nature scene last March when we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary there. Right before the pandemic lockdown! Talk about perfect timing!

Mustard flowers of Napa Valley

In early spring the entire valley of Napa for hundreds of miles is covered in bright yellow mustard flowers. This spectacular scenery is a nature show like no other.

Blue skies add their own charm

Between the fields of yellow flowers, blue skies, and puffs of white clouds, the valley is so beautiful that it’s hard to stop taking pictures.

Dark rain clouds add their own magic

Even moody rain clouds cannot dim the vibrant mustard flowers from their glorious show.

Driving the yellow backroads of Napa Valley

Wine tasting in Napa

A little history on the mustard flowers of Napa Valley

As beautiful as these mustard flowers are they also provide sustainable and organic nourishment for the soil in the vineyards. Like so many things in Napa Valley, the symbiotic relationship between mustard flowers and grapevines has its origins in France. Mustard flowers here and in other wine growing regions were originally planted as a cover crop, a tradition that’s been a part of wine culture for centuries.

Since mustard is very rich in nitrogen it acts as a natural fertilizer. Once the mustard grows and flowers the vineyard groundskeepers till the plants into the soil to replace some of the nitrogen the vines used during the previous year’s growth cycle. The seeds are tilled back into the soil for the next year’s mustard flower show.

Dijon Mustard which comes from the town of Dijon in the Burgundy wine region of France are the same mustard plants that line many of the vineyards in Napa Valley.

The vintners have planted so many mustard flowers over the years that the flowers have really taken over Napa valley!

The Mustard Flowers of Napa Valley
by Yao Family Wines.

It’s late February in the vineyards
To the naked eye it appears nothing is happening.
Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful time in Napa Valley.

In the vineyards, we have the annual sea of yellow.
The mustard flowers of Napa Valley.

The arrival of mustard flowers signal warm weather is fast approaching and the first buds of Spring will soon peak out.

The magnificent patchwork of brilliant yellow are a sight to behold like no other.
The mustard flowers of Napa Valley.

Have a good weekend everyone.
Happy early spring!