Today is the third installment of Hunting Garden Fridays, you can find chapter 1 here, chapter 2 here. Today, well, it’s pure Desert Garden plant porn! I'll keep the commentary to a minimum so you can just enjoy the pictures...
Look at all of those Barrels!
Here's an interesting contrast. I took this picture...
...followed by this one, at the same time, just facing different directions...look how dramatically different the sky is!
I'm not sure what Yucca this is but look at it's scaly trunk..
Here's a close up. I found it kind of remarkable, so is that trunked Opuntia next to it!
Erythrina chiapasana, from Mexico.
Here's another tiny pup deciding to bloom...
That's it for the Desert Garden, hope you got your spiky plant fill! Next Friday we'll walk through the Palm and Jungle Gardens on our way to the Australian Garden...where our visit wraps up.
That is seriously the best ever!!! They have some epic barrel cactus lovin' going on there. There palms are also stunning. Wow!!!! Thanks for this wonderful Friday morning plant lust. Oh and.... Happy birthday!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing!? You'd love it...and thank you!
DeleteOMG all theses amazing shots!!...I cant even take it all in.....Is this near Pasadena because when I go to LA next time I will make it a priority! thank you!!!. I persoanly would like to see the trunk of those palms..the barrels are awesom and those long white ones too...I needed a close up of those!
ReplyDeleteYes it is very near Pasadena, and I hope you can make it there and see all of those plants (and more) for yourself!
DeleteI don't even know where to begin... What is the flowering puya? Is it a Puya venusta? I have a small plant in a pot. I wonder if it will ever flower like that?
ReplyDeleteThe trunked yucca sure is weird. Looks like a pony tail palm at the bottom! No label, I assume?
I didn't catch the name of the Puya, but Puya venusta certainly looks right based on what the internet shows for that one.
DeleteAs for the Yucca I couldn't find the label in my photos, but I thought I remembered see it labeled as a Y. rostrata. Foggy memory is the price I pay for waiting too long to post the photos.
Stunning plants, great pictures! Loved everything especially the agaves! Are those puya blooms in 19 & 20? Beautiful! These posts are so great because they illustrate how abundant an arid garden can be which is sort of messing with preconceptions. (Not ready to give up on the jungle yet but the Huntington is pretty amazing!) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, and I think Gerhard is right about the name...Puya venusta.
DeleteI agree but still had to listen to people saying things like "I just don't like the look of a desert garden" as they walked the paths. I wanted to tell them to go away!
Pardon me while I mop up this puddle of drool on my desk! What great shots, this garden is definitely on my "to visit very soon" list.
ReplyDeleteYay! Glad I could get you excited about a visit.
Delete*Yawn* BORING! It's like a bunch of cactus and stuff. I mean, who really wants to look at one of the country's most impressive collections of drought-resistant color, textures, and forms? Some of these plants are twice my age I'm sure, and who wants to see a bunch of really old plants?
ReplyDeleteOf course I'm kidding, as this just *blows me away!* Your homework assignment (for next winter?) is to take some of these photos and label every plant in them.
I actually do wish I knew the ages of these plants. How long does it take a yucca to form a trunk like that? Just AMAZING. I'll have to visit someday.
So you'll be paying for another trip to the Huntington for me then? To take care of the research for my homework?
DeleteGood eye-candy fix, thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteYou are oh so welcome!
DeleteI'm so glad you chose to break up these Huntington Garden posts--I might have had a heart attack otherwise!
ReplyDeleteAnd I would have had to edit down the pictures and not share them all, which would have been unfortunate!
DeleteHmmm, I have often thought that some of your entries border on being "plant porn", but I have always had second thoughts about saying the "p" word for some reason :confused:
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes, lots of plant porn tonight Loree, and you mentioned the word first! Friday night plant porn rocks!!!
I love Yuccas (can't grow them here though :( ) and in all of my searching the internet I have never seen one with a swollen foot like then one you posted above. I am not an expert, but do you think it may be some kind of Nolina instead?
PS. Have you had your birthday yet? If so, happy birthday!
Glad I could provide some G-rated porn for your Friday night!
DeleteYou could certainly be correct about the Yucca/Nolina question...I wish I had searched harder for/photographed the tag!
Thank you for the birthday wishes! (it was Friday)
"G-rated porn" eh?
DeleteYou make me laugh Loree and I look forward to the next Friday installment :)
Surreal and other-worldly. Beautiful pictures of an amazing garden.
ReplyDeleteHave you been?
DeleteOMG.....I blacked out and trying to collect myself. I will never be the same.
ReplyDeleteYikes...hopefully you didn't hit your head!
DeleteOOPS! Forgot to wish you happy 29th birthday! Hope you have the best day ever and many happy returns. And lots more plants. And maybe another circle pot. Or two.
ReplyDeleteThank you! (29th...ha!) I like your new avatar picture!
DeleteIf it is near your birthday, shouldn't we be providing the presents, not you? Your pics are a gift, and July babies are the best.
ReplyDeleteYes now that you mention it...
DeleteIt's amazing to em how many people I know who have July birthdays. ON my block alone there are 5 of us all within a couple of days of each other.
Happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteThose pictures are beautiful! The desert garden is one of the oldest at the Huntington - most of the barrels were planted in 1915, I think. And some of the yuccas have been there since 1908. I spend way too much time at that place! Your pictures are making me want to go again!
Ah you're lucky to be able to spend too much time there! I have a couple of books on the Desert Garden, I should go reread them to refresh my memory on the dates and such.
DeleteWOW!!! I definitely live in the wrong hemisphere...I collect succulents and have quite a few, but have to bring 90% of them indoors for the winter. I can only dream that my golden barrel will one day look like the ones in your pictures. Incredible!! Love this post and all the pictures!!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDebbie :)
You and me both! (and you're welcome!)
DeleteLove this garden--Thanks for the great pics! My visits the last several years have been in December around the holidays, while visiting family, when the stars of the show are the South African plants. It's nice to see all the changes later in the year and see what the Americas have to offer.
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit in the winter sometime and see the garden that time of the year...besides Christmas in LA sounds like a lovely idea all around...
DeleteIncredible! This is absolutely the best prickly garden I have ever seen! Beautiful pictures. Absolutely stunning!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed!
DeleteBelated Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bom!
DeleteSome old and grand specimens there Loree, absolute visual delight, love it! And Belated Happy Birthday too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks guys!
DeleteWow Loree! The place must be huge. I have a book about these gardens, but of course, your photos give such a better view of the immensity of their collection. Don't they have a tropical garden as well?
ReplyDeleteDavid/:0)