Fall at South Coast Botanic Garden

A meeting brought me to South Coast Botanic Garden on Monday morning and, after it was over, I decided to take a spin through the garden to see what's going on as I haven't conducted a tour since August.  Although the new school year has started, there hasn't been the demand for docents there was earlier in the year.

The Floss Silk Trees (Ceiba speciosa) immediately command your attention.  They're all in glorious bloom.

This is the tree near the front entrance, captured from 2 angles.  Its floral color was echoed in the Salvia shown in the shot on the right.

Another specimen, with more unusual flower color

There was also more in bloom in the Volunteer Garden than I'd have expected after a hot, dry summer.

I wish I could grow asters like this!  I'm unsure of the species.  I suspect this section of the botanic garden gets watered more than my garden does.

The Japanese anemones (Anemone hupensis var. japonica) also grow well there

And this Senna bicapsularis, grown as a tree, looks so much better than my own

Jewels of Opar (Talinum paniculata), which I tried growing once

Queen Ann's Wreath or coral vine (Antignon leptopus) growing over a garden service building

Butterflies were flitting about wherever I went.  Gulf Fritillary and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies seemed to be the most common.  I usually have tremendous difficulty getting decent photos of any butterfly but the Gulf Fritillaries in particular couldn't stay away from the Tithonia (aka Mexican sunflower or torch flower) in bloom near the vegetable garden and, for once, they didn't seem to object to my presence.

Gulf Fritillary on the left and Monarch (photographed from a greater distance) on the right

Behind the vegetable garden, two men were hard at work creating a new vertical garden.

What looks like a roof on the succulent wall is the structure behind it where the garden's tram is kept

I'm not sure when the wall is scheduled to be completed but they were making good progress Monday morning

I walked deeper into the garden past the dry lake bed.  It's been cleaned up since I last passed through that area.

The lake has been empty for a long time.  The liner beneath it decayed and it was no longer cost effective to fill it during our long drought.  I've been told that 40 fewer bird species have been sighted in the garden since the lake was drained.  However, there's a project afoot to restore it and the creek that feeds it.  The area had been cleaned up since I last saw it a month ago.

There are still a lot of roses in bloom but I only strolled the perimeter.

This florabunda, used to line the rose garden's entrance, is 'Sparkle & Shine'

On my way out I admired the Salvia leucantha in bloom across from the Desert Garden.

There was a larger mass of Salvia leucantha (aka Mexican bush sage) near the Mediterranean garden but I didn't get a photo

Overall, the garden looked refreshed after last weekend's rain.  The birds and butterflies were happy, the sun was shining, and the air was clean - everything seemed right in this little corner of the world.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party