Given that this is the third of my posts within a week's time to feature photos from last week's visit to my local botanic garden, you may suspect that I spent a lot of time there but in actuality I was there for less than two hours. Arriving in advance of my timed entry to the garden's butterfly exhibit, I walked the rest of the garden at a relatively fast clip, snapping photos as I went. My focus was on discovering the topiary displays but, as I didn't know where most of those were, I walked a significant portion of the garden's 87 acres in the time I had available. Without revisiting any elements of the topiary or butterfly exhibits, here are some of the best views I captured in the process.
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The Wisteria isn't blooming yet but the Japanese Garden looked great even with very little floral color
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Another view showing off the Cycads and Dietes iridiodes (aka fortnight lily) in the same area
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Other points of interest in the Japanese Garden included a bonsai specimen, a huge noID Dyckia in full flower, and Iris ensata (aka Japanese water iris)
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I've no idea what the shrub fronted by the asparagus ferns is but I love its shape
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| Lower meadow area bordered by Iris pseudacorus, Verbena bonariensis, and Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense' | | | | | | | |
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I can't remember exactly where I took this shot but I was surprised to see so many Canna lilies already in bloom
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The highlights of the Desert Garden for me were the Pseudobombax ellipticum (aka shaving brush tree) and the noID Echinopsis
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The Jacaranda trees are blooming throughout the peninsula (at least with the exception of the dwarf variety in my back garden). These border the extension of the Desert Garden that specializes in Aloes.
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The major draw in this area, which I've always thought of as limbo, is a huge mass of Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija poppy), currently in full bloom
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Even though not yet in full flower, the lavender field area always has a peaceful feeling about it
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After a little rain, the Mediterranean Garden has sprung to life (no pun intended)
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The canopy of the Moreton Bay fig trees (Ficus macrocarpa) in the Banyan Grove seemed thinner than usual but as beautiful as ever
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This spectacular Cape chestnut tree (Calodendrum capense) is in the Phoebe Meadow, located in the outer area of SCBG
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This massive Bougainvillea entangled in a palm tree sits next to the tram road
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The Rose Garden viewed from one corner
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This view from a path within the Rose Garden looks out in the direction of a large Brugmansia (aka angel's trumpet) bordering the nearby Amphitheater
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The forest pansy trees (Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' aka eastern redbud) planted a little further along the same path hide the Amphitheater lawn and the flamingo topiaries I featured in an earlier post. In bloom, I thought these were western redbuds but their foliage clearly identifies them as the eastern species.
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Since South Coast Botanic Garden furloughed its volunteers in 2020 and subsequently disbanded the docent group I'd belonged to, I only get to the garden about once a quarter on average but, coincidentally, a friend and I plan to be there this weekend for the garden's first plant sale since the start of the pandemic. I used to attend all the fall and spring sales but I'm not sure what to expect after the long hiatus. I'm still looking forward to it, though.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
