Yesterday, I paid my first visit to South Coast Botanic Garden after an absence of four months. They've been advertising a "superbloom" event but it's not a superbloom in the conventional sense of the term, which describes a broad-scale wildflower display in desert areas following an unusually wet rainy season. Our rainy season has been anything but wet this year and this particular bloom fest focused not on wildflowers but on flowering bulbs planted en masse last fall to provide visitors a welcome jolt of color as spring approaches.
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| The unusual bed arrangement shown here featuring tulips was designed to mirror the shape of the metal sculpture in the background on the left, which is known as Soller 1 |
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| Tulip beds viewed from the other direction |
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| The red tulips are the most prominent |
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| but the mix contains flowers in shades of purplish-pink, pink, and orange |
While I couldn't miss the tulips upon entering the garden, I wandered a bit before I found the daffodils (Narcissi).
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| This was my first view of them, visible in the distance |
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| These two beds consisted mainly of daffodils with a few tulips mixed in |
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| The lawn adjacent to the garden's amphitheater also offered a mix of flowering bulbs but I failed to get a closeup photo of the area |
Other flowers could be found in spots throughout the garden. I photographed only a few.
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| Top row: Arctotis, Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi, and Crocosmia Second row: Eschscholzia (California poppy), Osteospermum, and Salvia lutea bottom row: noID Salvia, Strelizia nicolai, and noID flowering succulent |
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| There were a variety of trees in flower too, including Erythrina caffra (coral tree), Handroanthus heptaphyllus (pink trumpet tree), and Magnolia x Randy |
The garden is in the process of constructing a new event space that will feature a butterfly pavilion, scheduled to open in April, so a large area was cordoned off.
I had time to visit only the front half of the garden on this occasion. Weather and circumstances permitting, I hope to wander further afield on my next visit.
Best wishes for a colorful weekend.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party