We visited the Regional Parks Botanical Garden a few days ago. This is the garden cat drinking from the small pond. I thought it was cute. I was actually there to gain inspiration and models from April's Bead Journal Project - which I did!
Garden Visit
A Newt Pond Observation
I've been meaning to post about an incident which I witnessed about a week or two ago at the U.C. Botanical Garden. John and I were spending an afternoon there and (somewhat voyeuristically) decided to see how newt mating season was progressing. We made our way to the pond and of course the little amphibians were swimming about together in primal abandon. Then, from the corner of my eye I noticed a pair that seemed somehow different. To my shock I realized that the amphibian one particular newt had grabbed to mate with was a frog! The frog struggled and swam quickly away (though I think it might have paused ever so slightly) leaving the newt looking after. I've seen some pretty impressive displays of amphibious lust up there, but I think this qualifies as one of the strangest - newts with odd proclivities! The rest of the garden was more typical - lots of ceanothus starting to bloom and nice plants on sale! On a similar note we recently visited the Regional Parks Botanical Garden between rain showers. It was spectacular up there! Giant maroon trillium in bloom, lots of manzanita flowers, fawn lilies and fritillaria in flower! We finished our walk right before the hail started - I'll try to post some of the pictures I took (eventually!).
Monterey County
I just mostly wanted to post some pictures. The first are from Arroyo Seco. It's hard to fully convey how spectacular this wild, steep canyon is in pictures. But I think you get some sense. The other pictures are from Mission San Antonio de Padua and the Soledad Mission.
Wandering
I have been quite lax in my posting as of late. But this is because John and I have been busy wandering about Northern California. We just got back from Monterey County where we enjoyed the rural atmosphere of the Salinas Valley. It is always good to keep in touch with where your food comes from and to realize the amount of labor that goes into its production, from planting to harvesting. But it's nice to be back amongst our familiar haunts - we missed the loose-leaf tea and selection of groceries, though not the traffic. The highlights of our trip (in addition to the missions) were the Pinnacles and the Arroyo Seco gorge. I hope to soon have photographs of all these wonders to share.
An Inception
At last I'm getting around to using this blog! Despite my moving activities I've still been able to make some more plant friends - Lone Pine Gardens, California Flora Nursery, Annie's Annuals, and the U.C. Botanical Garden Member's Preview sale all played a role. There were some other players - a local big box (I revived some nearly dead discounts!), Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, and my infamous place of employ. I visited the first two on the list for the first time this September. Cal Flora had my long-coveted pink hummingbird fuchsia, along with an impressive array of other native plant cultivars. We passed a pleasant time there under the Autumnal oaks. Lone Pine was the bonsai and succulent paradise I'd imagined it would be - little camellias, an azalea and an Ibervillea followed me home!
In addition to nurseries we went to Goat Rock Beach and visited Lucky Mojo Curio Co. in Forestville. I had perused the latter's impressive on-line site quite a few times, and even purchased one of their oils at a Santa Cruz establishment. I was very excited to be able to visit in person. The shop smelled wonderful - one of those "many plant-based things in one place" scents. I brought home a very nice Queen Elizabeth root amongst my bag full of items.
So I guess that's it for my current activities - photos included!