Monday brought me back to the
South Coast Botanic Garden for a meeting. It remains cold here by our standards, with most daytime highs hovering in the 50sF. I've spent less time outside than usual so I took advantage of the sunny (but still cold!) morning to take a quick spin of the garden. The staff and volunteers have spent the last month pruning plants so the garden was relatively subdued but I still found some things to share with you.
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| I couldn't pass up a shot of these cactus backlit by the sun in the Desert Garden. I'm not good at identifying cactus but I think the plants in the center are silver torch cactus (Cleistocactus); the plant in the background on the left is Euphorbia ammak; and the plant just barely visible on the right may have been a ponytail palm (Beaucarnea). |
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| Across the road is a huge bottle brush tree (Callistemon) underplanted with succulents |
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| I admire the silvery ground cover called snow in summer (Cerastium tomentosum) in the center foreground here and have tried planting it in my own garden but mine hasn't come anywhere close to forming a blanket like this. The bright spots of orange-red color in the distance are Crocosmia. |
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| The area around the Living Wall was cordoned off for unspecified work. It looks as though it's still holding up well. |
Those are the only wide shots I took during this visit but, flitting about like a bee, I took a closer look at a variety of flowering plants - and a couple of foliage plants too. I didn't take time looking for plant tags so any plant names shown here are my best guess.
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| In the Volunteer Garden, clockwise from the upper left, I found: Crocosmia, borage (Borago officinalis), Calendula, bird of paradise (Strelitzia), a bearded Iris, and Narcissus |
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| In the Mediterranean garden, I found: sea squill (Urginea maritima), California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Salvia clevelandii, and Verbena lilacina. I love the sea squill even when it isn't blooming but I've yet to find bulbs to try in my own garden. I've put myself on a bulb grower's wishlist so maybe eventually I'll get lucky. |
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| Other plants sighted along my route included: Acacia (perhaps A. cultriformis), noID Magnolia, noID Dudleya, Euryops chrysanthemoides, wild lupine (Lupinus nanus), noID rose and, in the middle, a beautiful mass of Monstera deliciosa |
As to my own garden, I'm continuing to prune ornamental grasses and overgrown plants. I haven't done much in the way of installing new plants even though I have holes here and there. That's about to change, however.
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| A late afternoon delivery! |
Best wishes for a great weekend!
All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
