Friday, June 28, 2024

June's tour of South Coast Botanic Garden (Part 2)

Last Friday, I posted part one of my June tour of South Coast Botanic Garden.  Today's post covers where that one left off, starting with the Palm Circle near the entrance to the garden.

The Palm Circle was planted up with a lot of tropicals, including banana trees for the summer season


The Pollination Garden lies just beyond the Palm Circle.  Last year, it was initially planted with annuals to cover the bare ground.  In November, when the annuals were spent, the garden staff planted natives that are known to attract pollinators.  Most of the natives will take time to become established but, luckily for visitors, a wide range of annuals showed up to fill in the empty spots this summer.

Clockwise from the upper left: Achillea millefolium (common yarrow), Anetheum graveolens (dill), Daucus carota (wild carrot), Cosmos bipinnatus (paired with borage and roses), Cosmos with a visiting bee, noID Cirsium (thistle), and Xerochrysum bracteatum (strawflowers)

A huge Rotheca myricoides (butterfly bush, formerly classified as Clerodendrum ugandense) has occupied the area surrounding the current Pollination Garden as long as I can remember and, although it's native to Africa, the garden apparently intends to leave it in place.  In my view, any plant with blue flowers should automatically get a free pass to remain wherever it thrives.

The area surrounding the pond was mostly green.  I was pleased to find that the pond now has a turtle again.  Whether it's the same turtle that occupied the pond when it was part of the old children's garden or not, I can't say.  He was inundated by admiring children and remained under water at the time of my visit so I didn't get a good photo of him.

When I first saw this squirrel, I initially wondered if it was a chipmunk as its appearance was very different from those that frequent my own garden, as well as the squirrels I usually see at SCBG.  However, I little research clarified that my resident squirrels are the tree-dwelling eastern fox squirrels and this one is a native California ground squirrel.


I popped into the small tropical greenhouse, which was more disappointing than usual.

Two Phalaenopsis (moth orchids) were woven into a tall vine.  The lower one was pink and upper one was was an odd shade of blue.  I tried to convince myself that the staff couldn't have died the upper one blue but its color was too unreal to believe the color was natural.


I spent more time than usual in the Rose Garden but then roses are especially deserving of attention when they peak in early summer.  They were plentiful, although they could have benefited from deadheading.  I sought out the most perfect blooms I could find.

Clockwise from the upper left, the roses include: 'Gemini', 'Judy Garland', 'Julia Child', 'Love & Peace', 'Sexy Rexy', 'Sparkle & Shine', and 'Love Song'

Last year, the garden added tropical plants, including Cannas, to one area of the Rose Garden that was prone to damp soil.  They were looking their best at the time of my visit.

In a drier area, staff and volunteers had added masses of Pelargoniums and lavender

They added masses of true Geraniums too.  I wish these were happy in my garden but I suspect SCBG is more generous with their water rations than I am.

These unidentified groundcover roses were planted in an area surrounding one edge of the Rose Garden.  In addition to their abundance, I actually felt a degree of solace when I spotted an equal abundance of weeds.  Grass weeds have plagued my own garden this year and keeping up with them isn't at all easy, especially when they're protected by thorns.


The former Mediterranean Garden that was situated near the Rose Garden no longer exists as a defined garden area. Part of the area it formerly encompassed sits behind construction fencing but the area directly opposite the Rose Garden, previously covered by an expansive mass of Salvia leucantha (aka Mexican bush sage) is now planted with a wide range of drought-tolerant plants.

This photo was taken last year (June 14, 2023) when the area was still covered in Salvia leucantha

One year later, from the fenced section of the former Mediterranean Garden to the palm trees adjacent to the main path leading to SCBG's entrance and exit, the space previously covered by Mexican bush sage has been completed replanted.  There are grasses, Leucadendrons, Opuntia and a variety of other succulents, as well as several Salvia leucantha.  I noticed the new planting for the first time during my visit this past February.  It's filled out since then, albeit slowly.


As I headed to the exit, I passed through an area I used to refer to as the "promenade" because it led from the Palm Circle to the formal entrance of the Rose Garden, an area often used for wedding events.

The 'Snow Leopard' Mangaves (left), planted in 2022, are looking good.  A mix of Alstroemeria and succulents, including dwarf Portulacaria afra (elephant food) and Senecio serpens (blue chalk sticks), is used elsewhere as shown in the next 2 photos. 


I'd hoped to have a chance to walk through the upper meadow, which was closed during each of my earlier visits to the garden this year.  I understand that the garden has installed a row of Grevilleas there but I've yet to have the opportunity to see them.  I found the upper meadow closed yet again, although I entirely support the reason for this particular closure.

Children of various ages were using their summer break to engage in a new learning experience


Now that the marine layer is lifting very early, if it's present at all, I may schedule a visit to the butterfly exhibit in early July.  Fingers crossed that I find a suitable slot when the temperature is neither too cool (for the butterflies) or too hot (for me).  In the meantime, may you all find a sweet spot in the weather this weekend.


All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party


18 comments:

  1. The Palm circle is lovely, what a wonderful tropical greeting. The roses are perfect. I'm glad they kept/added salvia leucantha to the new bed. I know it can go a bit crazy, but it's a big area and the color is so nice.

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    1. SCBG's large expanse of Salvia leucantha was always impressive - it bloomed for much of the year and looked much better than any I've grown in my own garden. It's going to be awhile before the replanted area looks like something. Although I like many of the plants they've installed, I don't have a sense of how it'll look when it fills out. There also used to be a stretch of grass from the upper meadow sloping down toward the road that kids used to roll down during docent-led tours that I'm sorry to see gone.

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  2. Lovely. That pond is really special; I can imagine exploring it. And the roses...wow!

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    1. I'm just glad that the turtle (or at least a turtle) has a home in the pond again!

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  3. Interesting plant, that Rotheca. Very unusual flowers. The dyed moth orchid, though a similar color, just looks too artificial. I wish botanic gardens wouldn't stoop to using gimmick plants, but at least there was only one. Ground squirrels are a difficult thing to have in the garden. I imagine as bad as gophers. We relocated a ground squirrel that decided our yard was comfy a year or two ago. You did a great job curating the best of the best roses. I can almost smell the scent of summer now.

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    1. The dyed orchid was annoying. I love the Rotheca. I grew it successfully outside our rental place in Santa Monica decades ago. However, it didn't do well when I tried it here but then I planted it in a large pot. It needs more room than that.

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  4. I love the Palm Circle in its tropical rendition, much more so than the temporary skirt of annuals. Last year I purchased a corten planter, 1' tall and 3' wide: planting it up is a fun project that I stretch over 6 months and thoroughly enjoyed.
    The noID Cirsium caught my eye: OMG, the color contrast on this beauty... Wow!
    Chavli

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    1. Large containers are always rewarding for me too, Chavli (although a planter the size of the one in SCBG's Palm Circle is well outside the realm of possibility for my garden!). Annie's Annuals & Perennials has a biennial cobweb thistle (Cirsium occidentale) I came close to ordering. It's a very interesting plant, and drought tolerant too.

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  5. Not my favorite BG but at least they are putting some budget into it. Excellent photos and descriptions.

    It was lovely cool this morning at 5:30--the garden is at it's best in early morning.

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    1. I didn't get outside to work until 8am today when what was left of the marine layer had mostly lifted. I think of early morning as 7:30-8am but I obviously need to set an alarm and get out earlier!

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  6. Hooray I am able to comment again. Overall the garden looks great. Wish we could grow cannas like theirs. Ours are always rather spindly. Ditto for the hedge of pelargoniums. The roses were particularly lovely. I'm a sucker for the apricot hues.

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    1. I'm glad the problem with commenting was rectified at last, Elaine! I have to admit that I miss the roses I used to have. To minimize the water issue, I've been considering trying one in a large pot ;)

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  7. There's a lot of variety to appeal to a wide range of tastes. I'll give SCBG credit for that. At least they're bringing people in.

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    1. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see so many families there on Juneteenth. I hope the new children's garden brings even more in when it opens, although I'm feeling doubtful that we can expect that to happen in 2024 as advertised.

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  8. When I see a big planting of canna like the one in your photos I realize how much I miss their presence in my garden. However since they need sun (and I'm not willing to give over my sunny spots to a plant that disappears for part of the year) and more water than I'm willing to pour on them, well... I will just enjoy them elsewhere.

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    1. I like Cannas too but they need a LOT of water, which I'm just not willing to provide. I'm still curious about what makes that particular area of SCBG's rose garden so damp. I wish I could find a damp area in my garden!

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  9. Summer science camp sounds like a wonderful idea!

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