Happy holidays, dear friends, fellow gardeners and rose lovers! May your flowers bloom and your weeds shrivel, may all chores become easy and may you find joy and peace in your garden and in your life.
I won't even try to offer any more excuses for another long absence :)
Here is a recap of a recent trip we took to the Santa Cruz Arboretum.
I hope these sunny pictures cheer you up a bit and offer a little warmth to those of you facing a cold winter.
We are desperate for rain here, but at least the sunshine makes for an enjoyable excursion :)
We started, as before, with a patch of African heathers.
Their narrow tubular flowers are a big attraction to hummingbirds.
There were almost no other visitors on the day we went; hummingbirds, on the other hand, were everywhere.
Then we moved on to proteaceae, spectacular Southern Hemisphere natives. Some of them, proteas especially, have large and showy flowers used in cut flower trade.
Most specimens are very well grown and spectacular in or out of bloom, but this year, many were frost damaged: we saw several with burned cane tips or buds. Some plants looked entirely dried and dead...
Only every now and then did I catch a glimpse of a perfect bud.
Then we moved on to the collection of banksiae.
Banksiae, Australian shrubs and trees, are close relatives of proteas and have the same majestic beauty.
All have striking flower spikes that sometimes come in dazzling colors.
They contain hundreds of flowers arranged in a dense spiral about a woody stem.
Banksiae are an important source of nectar for bees at a time when few other flowers are blooming.
Most plants were in bloom, and didn't seem to mind our recent cold spells as much as the proteas.
There were so many spectacular shapes and colors, it was a treat to walk among these beauties rarely seen in the Western world.
I hope you have enjoyed this virtual trip. Have a wonderful new year.
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| A bee on a banksia, an Australian native in the Proteaceae family |
I won't even try to offer any more excuses for another long absence :)
Here is a recap of a recent trip we took to the Santa Cruz Arboretum.
I hope these sunny pictures cheer you up a bit and offer a little warmth to those of you facing a cold winter.
 |
| A leucadendron? |
We are desperate for rain here, but at least the sunshine makes for an enjoyable excursion :)
We started, as before, with a patch of African heathers.
Their narrow tubular flowers are a big attraction to hummingbirds.
There were almost no other visitors on the day we went; hummingbirds, on the other hand, were everywhere.
Then we moved on to proteaceae, spectacular Southern Hemisphere natives. Some of them, proteas especially, have large and showy flowers used in cut flower trade.
Most specimens are very well grown and spectacular in or out of bloom, but this year, many were frost damaged: we saw several with burned cane tips or buds. Some plants looked entirely dried and dead...
 |
| A leucadendron |
Only every now and then did I catch a glimpse of a perfect bud.
Then we moved on to the collection of banksiae.
 |
| Banksia "Birthday Candles" |
Banksiae, Australian shrubs and trees, are close relatives of proteas and have the same majestic beauty.
 |
| Banksia grandis with "cones" (old inflorescences which lost their flower parts). The smooth "cones" are the ones that did not set seed. |
All have striking flower spikes that sometimes come in dazzling colors.
They contain hundreds of flowers arranged in a dense spiral about a woody stem.
 |
| Banksia victoriae |
Banksiae are an important source of nectar for bees at a time when few other flowers are blooming.
Most plants were in bloom, and didn't seem to mind our recent cold spells as much as the proteas.
 |
| Banksia menziesii |
There were so many spectacular shapes and colors, it was a treat to walk among these beauties rarely seen in the Western world.
