Spring at South Coast Botanic Garden (Part One)

I spent a few hours at South Coast Botanic Garden earlier this week and took many more photos than usual.  I originally planned to load them all into a single post but, even if I shoved a lot of those photos into collages, I felt it was going to be a little overwhelming so I've broken my coverage into two parts.

I thought Aloe season would be largely over by now (as it is in my garden) but this display in front of SCBG was evidence I was wrong

When I saw this display just inside the entrance to the garden, I wondered if SCBG was at all worried about how close the Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itts' growing up against its office walls are.  You may recall that I've slated the Acacias closest to our house for removal in response to my concerns with the new "defensible space clearance ordinance" enacted by Los Angeles County.

The Pollination Garden was particularly boisterous this spring.  Many of the plants are crammed together but selected plants grabbed my attention.

This large clump of sweet peas had me wondering if I should try growing them like this

Clockwise from the upper left are: Achillea millefolium, Aquilegia, a pretty mix of borage (Borago officinalis) and roses, angel's trumpet (Datura metel), bush sunflowers (Encelia), Euphorbia, and lots of California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) 

I think I photographed this butterfly clerodendrum (Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense') the last time I visited but I couldn't resist another couple of shots

SCBG's changed things up a lot since I was a docent there and the old map hasn't been updated.  The area across the road from what's now called the Pollination Garden used to be called the Volunteer Flower Garden so I've gone ahead and lumped the following photos under that category.

The Brugmansia were in fine form

I noticed Dutch Iris growing in a large number of areas.  All of them seemed to be either yellow and white or violet and white like those shown here.

They had a bountiful display of breadseed poppies (Papaver somniferum) too

As I looked across the tram road at the Lower Meadow area, I was delighted to see that the Chinese fringe trees that surround the meadow were in full bloom.

Seeing these trees, Chionanthus refusus, in full bloom would have made the visit worthwhile in itself

Photo of the trees viewed from another angle and in closeup

The Indian hawthornes (Raphiolepsis) were also in bloom throughout SCBG.  The photo on the left shows them combined with Cuphea ('Starfire Pink' or a similar cultivar) and a noID rose, shown in closeup on the right.

I swung by the California Native Plants section that sits behind the tropical greenhouse next, where one tree-like shrub caught my eye.

This is Rhus ovata, aka sugar bush.  It grows alongside the road in my neighborhood but isn't as well-groomed as the plant shown here.

Then I was on to the Desert Garden, where I spent most of my time strolling the newer section focused on Aloes.

I entered the Aloe section through a narrow back path.  The young woman in the background was using a watering can to give individual plants a drink, which gives you a clue how dry we've been.  Light rain was predicted here this week but it hasn't materialized.  For all practical purposes, our rainy season is over.

Just as I saw at SCBG's entrance, a surprising number of Aloes were in bloom

Aloe greatheadii var. davyana

Aloe buhrii

Aloe divaricata

Aloe striata

Kalanchoe beharensis, aka felt bush 

A cabbage tree (Cussonia) surrounded by California poppies and a variety of Aloes in and out of bloom

A relatively small Agave in a nearby bed had produced a huge flower stalk but I couldn't get close enough to identify it

This shaving brush tree (Pseudobombax) in the Desert Garden's original area was just starting to bloom

I walked through the Amphitheater next.

There were multiple white flowered Brugmansia in bloom in this area

There are Chinese fringe trees surrounding the amphitheater lawn I don't remember seeing before

I was curious to see what was happening with the construction of the new children's garden.  The short answer is that there doesn't seem to be much if any progress since I was there in early February. The new garden was originally scheduled to open in 2024.

Some new job materials seem to have been dropped off but there was no evidence of construction activity.  The metalwork materials shown on the right, presumably intended to build the structure in the Banyan Grove, were already there in early February.

My beloved Banyan Grove is still largely fenced off.

Only a small area of the Banyan Grove is open to visitors

That's it for the first half of the areas I covered.  I'll pick up the rest next Friday.  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party