Last Friday I posted coverage of the first half of my spring tour of South Coast Botanic Garden. I'm picking up my stroll where I left off. After passing the Banyan Grove, I walked through the Palm Collection.
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| Having grown up surrounded by the tall, shaggy Queen Palms that have come to symbolize the Los Angeles area, I've never cared much for them, but I admit that I find the Silver Bismarck Palm attractive |
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| Large stretches of pink Centranthus ruber provided jolts of color surrounding some of the palms |
SCBG is eighty-seven acres in size. I didn't walk the whole area but I covered more of it than usual. At the point shown in the prior photo, I turned down one of what I think of as the "back roads." I'm not sure it was labeled, although the path I took eventually connected with Creek Lane, passing the garden's former man-made lake.
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| I couldn't identify this attractive shrub surrounded by Vinca (aka periwinkle) |
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| There were quite a few large Echiums along this route, including this one with flowers more purple than blue. Backlit, the flowers glowed, an effect my camera couldn't quite capture. |
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| There were also some very large Ceanothus scattered along the dirt trail |
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| The path was peaceful. The only other person I saw was a staff member repairing part of the irrigation system. |
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| This is what's left of the former man-made lake, which once attracted many bird species, as well as visitors. It's been dry for years now and, although there were active discussions of plans for a new lake pre-pandemic when when I was a volunteer docent, I haven't heard any mention of that in some time. |
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| The trail I followed took me south, bringing me to the Tram Road |
I followed the south-side Tram Road northwest to the Rose Garden.
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| Clockwise from the upper left, these are some of the roses I photographed: 'Astounding Glory', 'Ebb Tide', 'Grauss an Aachen', 'Love Song', and 2 noID roses |
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| Last fall, volunteers planted a lot of companion plants to embellish the roses |
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The rose companions included: Top row - Achillea and Nepeta
Middle - Itoh peonies
Bottom - Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija poppies) |
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| There were also clumps of Melianthus major, which I saw in various areas in addition to the Rose Garden |
The lower edge of the area designated as the Upper Meadow lies across the street from the Rose Garden. The meadow's lawn was formerly edged with a broad swath of Salvia leucantha on one end, bookended by a Mediterranean Garden on the other side. The latter area disappeared behind construction fencing in 2024 but the meadow's edge was replanted with a range of drought tolerant plants last year, including succulents, Salvias, and Leucadendrons among other things. I took a few shots of the area.
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| Cistanthe grandiflora, aka rock purslane |
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| Grasses and more Romneya coulteri |
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| There were some Salvia leucantha but nothing on the order of the former broad stretch of it |
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| I couldn't identify the plants in front here with any certainty. Their growth habit reminded me of Phlomis purpurea but the leaves were too small. I'm guessing they might be some kind of Salvia. My phone's dicey plant ID app offered 8 possibilities, none of which appeared correct. |
From the Tram Road I headed up the main promenade that leads back toward the garden's entrance.
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| This mix of Agave ovatifolia and Geranium maderense (backed up by red Callistemon) was one of my favorite snaps |
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| A blooming Agave ovatifolia (possibly the 'Vanzie' cultivar) sat directly opposite the prior display at one corner of the promenade |
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| An agave, palm, nasturtium mix |
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| Carpenteria californica (aka bush anemone) and nearby Iris douglasiana (aka Pacific Coast Iris). I once tried growing a bush anemone on my back slope but it wasn't happy; however, as I'll probably remove Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche' from my back garden due to its flammability, maybe I'll try Carpenteria as a replacement. |
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| More Agave ovatifolia, this time combined with Cistanthe and Alstroemeria |
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| The far end of the promenade featured additional agaves with Dutch Iris |
On this occasion, the Upper Meadow itself wasn't closed so I walked through the area for the first time in well over a year.
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| There was a wall of Rhaphiolepis in bloom marking the main entrance |
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| A gazebo on the far end of the neatly mowed lawn serves as one of SCBG's wedding sites. Trumpet trees sit on either side of if. |
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| I missed the peak display of this hybrid trumpet tree (Handroanthus impetiginosus x chrysotrichus 'Apricot') |
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| I think the sprawling shrub encircling the bench here is Cestrum aurintiacum |
As I headed out, I took a quick look at the plant sale kiosk.
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| It was a meager display with plants that couldn't be considered bargains. Potted succulents planted by volunteers like the one shown on the right were priced at $25-$30. If volunteers are putting together succulent pots, I don't understand why they haven't resurrected propagation efforts to produce plants that can't readily be found in the local garden centers. |
Two events open in May, continuing through September, so I expect I'll pay another visit somewhere within that window. SOAR, the annual butterfly exhibit, opens on May 9th. A new exhibit called Bamboozeld opens May 1st. The latter features large bird sculptures constructed using bamboo.
Best wishes for a pleasant spring weekend.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Often times, rose gardens are strickly for roses. To my eyes, the embellishment of companion plants is most welcome.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Upper Meadow' looks lovely. The hot color of rock purslane flowers are soften by green, silver and white. I remember (from your review) how sparse it looked shortly after the renovation.
How are palm trees with regards to flammability?
Chavli
Palm trees in general were on the problematic list sent to homeowners in our high fire risk area, along with Acacia, pine trees, juniper, etc. Given the sheer number of those species all over our peninsula, I find it unlikely that the Fire Department or LA County will try to eliminate them on any scale - and I suspect that the botanic garden with its 87 acre spread and relatively few structures will be subject to the same constraints as homeowners. My impression is that it's the very tall palm trees like the queen palms that are of the greatest concern in terms of flammability, especially those covered with dry, dead fronds. For homeowners, my guess is that the emphasis will be on keeping those dead fronds trimmed. When I was a docent at SCBG, the garden prided itself for keeping the shaggy palm fronds in place as habitats for local critters but then I doubt the Fire Department will be inspecting the botanic garden.
DeleteThe Agave & Geranium photo is my favorite. Bamboozled sounds fun to see. Have a nice weekend, are you getting rain? They've taken our rain prediction down to .02" now.
ReplyDeleteI have to try Geranium maderense again here. It was too big for my former tiny garden but could be a much better fit here.
DeleteI woke up to damp pavement this morning but no measurable rain; however, Weather Underground is now predicting a 92% chance of rain tomorrow and 2/10ths of an inch in total (up from 0.06/inch earlier). I'm sorry your forecast isn't better!
That soft mystery plant that reminds you of phlomis reminds me of Salvia leucophylla -- whatever it is, I like that shot with the two cypresses, distant trees and romneya, very meditt chaparral. I wonder if you really need to pull out the occasional non-fire-resistant plant, like a cistus, if most of the surrounding planting and spacing is carefully done, and there aren't endless banks of fire-prone plants? What a dilemma...
ReplyDeleteI think you're right on Salvia leucophylla! I wonder why my phone's app didn't include it among the possible IDs it provided, much less why my own search of "lavender salvia" didn't yield that result!
DeleteI'm definitely not taking out all the suspect plants in my garden - unless of course the Fire Department specifically presses the point with respect to particular plants. I've got 8 Cistus shrubs in my garden at present and didn't include any of them on the list I submitted to my arborist; however, I did some research on the species afterwards and got spooked by the number of reports calling out Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche' specifically. Even t he San Marcos Growers' site, a source I respect, expressed concern about that one.
Love all the Agave ovatifolia!
ReplyDeleteSo many Agave ovatifolia were added to the garden, especially along that promenade, I had to wonder if SCBG got a special deal on the plants! They were all large when first installed too.
DeleteLooks like fun! I wish I could just pop on over. I really like the floriferous shrubs around the bench...and the gazebo...and the cascading plants along the rock walls...and the gazebo...and the Itoh Peonies. And everything else! <3
ReplyDeleteThe garden is looking good this spring. I just wish they'd get moving on the new children's garden. It was originally scheduled to open in 2024 and, given that there's no activity at all that I can see, I'll be surprised if they finish it in 2025.
DeleteThere are some good things to see off the beaten paths in BGs. loved the nearly empty places with the big Ceanothus. The Huntington had an Australian area they were slowly developing from just an area of Eucalypts, adding interesting Grevilleas etc. We used to have the area to ourselves most of the time even when the rose garden was full of visitors.
ReplyDeleteWe got 0.23" of rain this morning--a delightful unexpected surprise. Hope you got rain, too.
If I were visiting SCBG just to walk, I'd definitely stick to the back road areas. We got 0.25/inch of rain - Weather Underground's projection was very close to the target this time!
DeleteThe newly planted areas are filling in nicely - I think they did a good job with companion planting. I wonder if your unknown Phlomis purpurea/Salvia plant is a Caryopteris? Sure looks like one of the new pink varieties.
ReplyDeleteI think the other anonymous commentator probably identified it correctly as Salvia leucophylla, as that particular area is primarily planted with species appropriate to a Mediterranean climate like ours. While I'm not familiar with the pink variety of Caryopteris, the genus isn't commonly seen in our zone 10/11 climate. I love the blue form and it once in my garden but our hot, dry summer conditions zapped it.
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