Hurricane drama

We didn't actually experience a hurricane along coastal Southern California late last week but we did get a taste of the remnants of one.  Hurricane Kay started in the Pacific and hit landfall in Baja California.  It moved north as a tropical weather system, sparking reports of 100mph winds and dropping as much as 5 inches of rain in parts of the San Diego area.  As it moved into my own area of Los Angeles County last Friday afternoon (September 9th) we briefly experienced extreme wind, followed by light rain, which eventually became slow and steady rain in the evening hours, breaking our 10-day heatwave.

In addition to delivering 0.61/inch (15.5mm) of rain here, ongoing storm activity to the east of us set the stage for a pretty sunset on Sunday.  We get better views of the sunrise in my location than we do sunsets.  Our back garden faces east and the western view is largely blocked by hills so what we see of sunsets is displayed in the clouds rather than images of the setting sun.

This was the view to the east, overlooking the Port of Los Angeles, as the sun set in the west

Another view, looking roughly northeast from the back garden

and the view looking northwest, framed by the hills that obstruct the setting sun

I visited the local botanic garden Monday morning, hoping to see whatever was left of the floral arrangements created on site over the weekend as part of their Music x Flowers exhibit.  Unfortunately, the floral displays had all been cleaned up and carried away, although I was given a small bouquet of carnations when I checked in at the garden's entrance in commemoration of the event.  I noted that there was a lot of debris strewn about, presumably stirred up by the wind that accompanied the storm.  There wasn't much new to see since my prior visit 6 weeks ago but I strolled the garden for an hour nonetheless.

Then I saw this.  More than simple leaf debris, it appears the storm may have brought down this tree

Closeup of the tree's trunk, which had been torn apart

View of the same tree from its other side.  I've no idea what species of tree this was but it appeared to have a twin nearby.  In any case, its removal will leave a sunny spot in an area that was once in shade.

Other trees, still intact, were in full flower.

I believe this is a Chitalpa, an intergeneric hybrid of Catalpa (aka cigar tree) and Chilopsis linearis (aka desert willow).  It's a lovely, graceful thing, if too big for most residential gardens.

The garden had advertised that the floss silk trees (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa) were in bloom and they were.  The trees are native to South America.  I saw 5 of them on this visit but I recall there are more in parts of the garden I didn't visit on this occasion.  This one is in the garden's upper meadow.

This one near the visitor entrance gives you an idea of how big the trees are.  The tree's trunks are studded with spikes to deter climbing critters.  After, flowering, the hard shells of the seedpods break open to release their seeds, which are surrounded by a fluffy silk-like material.

The temperatures were far lower than the prior week but humidity levels were still high so I couldn't bring myself to walk deeper into the garden on this visit.  Temperatures have cooled even further since the start of the week.  Dare I say, it's feeling a little like fall here?  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.

All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party