Legos, Succulents & a Wednesday Vignette

What could Legos, succulents and a Wednesday Vignette possibly share in common?  Well, they all came together in a visit to the South Coast Botanic Garden earlier this week.  The botanic garden is sponsoring a nature-themed Lego exhibit.  Seeking to avoid visiting the garden when there might be hoards of children towing parents, my husband and I paid a visit early on a Monday morning.  We had the garden almost to ourselves - that is, if you discount the presence of a TV crew filming an episode of Scorpion, which my husband described to me as a "nerds save the world" series.

The Lego exhibits were scattered all over the garden, which spans 87 acres.  Of the 15 exhibits, we found 13.  It turns out that Lego sculptures aren't particularly easy to photograph so I'll show you only a few of my favorites.  In addition to these there was a butterfly, a dragonfly, goldfinches at a feeder, a koi fish, a lawnmower, lily pads with a frog and a flower, an orchid, and a rose.  Each exhibit was accompanied by a informational placard.

The bee stood sentry near the entrance

The bison (complete with a bird on its back) and its calf were my favorites and the largest of the exhibits we saw, comprised of 61,372 Legos in total

One can hope the rabbit might escape the fox here (although the placard showed a photo of a real fox with a real rabbit in its jaws)

The gardener is inexplicably hoeing rocks but he did have a nice backdrop in the succulent garden

The hummingbird, consisting of 31,555 Legos, is shown in most of the exhibit's promotional materials

The best part of the exhibit was that it provided an excuse to spend a few hours in the garden.  I've posted on the garden before (see photos of my spring 2014 visit here) but, each time, I see something different.  It's not The Huntington by any means but it's still a nice place to visit and just 5 miles from home as the crow flies.  The highlights of Monday's visit include lots and lots of succulents.

The cat's tail aloe (Aloe castanea) at top was hard to miss in full bloom.  Bottom row, left to right: Aloe cryptpoda x arborescens, A. maculata?, and A. marlothii.

Clockwise from upper left: Kalanchoe beharensis in full bloom, Agave potatorum?, Beschorneria yuccoides with bloom spikes, Euphorbia ammak, Euphorbia xanti in bloom, and Stenocereus griseus (with wild lupine)

The trees were putting on a good show too.

Clockwise from top left: Cercis canadensis, a noID flowering fruit tree (possibly apricot), Prunus serrulata, and a noID pine

The trumpet trees, formerly classified as Tabebuia but most recently reclassified as Handroanthos, were in glorious color.  (See Hoover Boo's post on these trees at Piece of Eden.)  From right to left are: H. impetiginosus, H. chrysostricha (next to a coral tree), and H. chrysostricha x impeteginosus.

I might have missed this tree if my husband hadn't plunked down on the bench beneath it.  This is Kigelia africana, also known as the sausage tree.

I didn't take too many other garden photos but a couple of shrubs stood out.

A beautiful noID Ceanothus grown as Ceanothus should be grown (unlike the sad specimens I inherited with my own garden, which are shorn mercilessly to maintain them as hedges)

This is a new-to-me Salvia.  I couldn't find a label but my best guess based on an on-line search is that its Salvia africana-lutea.  Those flower clusters were huge and just a little scary.

And, finally, there's the photo that represents my contribution to the Wednesday Vignette, hosted by Anna of Flutter & Hum:

This western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) was nearly invisible of the trunk of the giant Yucca elephantipes which forms the centerpiece of South Coast Botanic Garden's succulent section

Best wishes for a great week in your own garden!


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party