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Early this month I spent a long weekend in Pasadena where we celebrated my mother-in-law's 80th birthday. We had lots of fun and family time and spent hours outside in several family gardens (more about that in another post.) I had hoped there might be time to visit the Huntington Garden, but that didn't work out. However, I did get to take a nice walk close to her home on a warm, sunny afternoon (my favorite kind.)
Above, this tree has amazing spikes on its trunk. Can you believe the soft pretty pink blossoms it has on its canopy, below? What a contrast!
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Lots of aloes and agaves grow like weeds there. They just don't know how good they have it!
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Hibiscus blooms seemingly year-round.
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There was a street nearby called Boulder Something (Way, Street, Drive, I can't quite remember.) It's easy to see how it got its name, though. I loved the grasses nestled next to the big rocks, and prostrate rosemary tumbling over them.
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Jade trees grow as big as...trees. And they're lush and full.
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I was happy to recognize
Agave attenuata. These were beautiful big specimens along a side road.
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They were holding their own against ivy. Just look at the size of the trunks.
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There was a street of lovely Spanish-style houses near where I was staying. The homes were obviously developed and built at the same time, but each one was different. La Solana was filled with appropriate plantings of mostly drough-tolerant species.
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Of course, everyone has a lawn, as well.
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A nice big agave (
a. scabra or maybe
a. americana?) This one had beautiful leaf impressions on it.
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A stand of low-growing cactus. This crop was functioning nicely as a groundcover.
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This is either
Trachycarpus fortunei (Chusan Palm), or
Washingtonia filifera (Mexican Fan Palm), but the dead fronds have been cleaned up so I can't tell for sure. I love the way the fresh, green fronds shine in the sun.
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A baby
trachycarpus or Washingtonia. There were saplings sprouting out of the most inhospitable ground around two mature specimens. I wanted to dig some up and give them a happy home in Oregon!
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The size of some opuntia plants in SoCal is staggering.
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A beautiful palm and cactus grouping on La Solana.
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An olive tree. Can't wait for mine to get that large.
Strelitzia reginae. The Bird of Paradise Flower is perfectly named.
You've probably figured it out by now...the GardenTrip is a not-so-secret wannabe Southern Californian!