Friday, January 1, 2016

Huntington Fridays from 2014, the Desert Garden chapter 2

Last week was Part One of my 2014 visit to the Huntington Garden Desert Garden, today I'll wrap up that visit with Part Two, what a great way to start the New Year!...

My timing is a little odd, since we were just in the LA area for a week and yet I'm writing about a 2014 visit.

At the outset it seemed a little sacrilegious to not visit the Huntington again this year, after all I was so close.

But not visiting freed up time for other pursuits, which was good.

*sigh* there's no place like the Huntington though...

Agave macroacantha (I think)

Steps to nowhere? (I was a little off the actual path here, no worries, I got legal again real soon)

My reading material for the most recent trip was Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks (good stuff). There was a humorous mention of his confusion in ordering an empanada. Tuna fish (atĂșn) vs. Tuna (the fruit of the Opuntia), drastically different tastes!

Waving hello...

Waving goodbye...

Glowing!

Agave bloom spike #1...

Agave bloom spike #2 and #3...

#4 and #5 (let's not notice the fact I already shared these from the other side, but wasn't yet counting).

That bench was featured in my first post in this series on the Huntington.

Aloe 'Pink Perfection'

And Aloe 'David Verity'...

December is the time to visit for blooming Aloes!

Chorisia insignis trunk...

And flower...(and that's a wrap on this visit!)...hope these warm sunny desert garden images helped get your 2016 started right!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

22 comments:

  1. Happy New Years! And yes, those warm pictures are like a shot of vitamins to make winter pass fast. It is time for me to start ordering plants from the mail order nurseries to get them off to a good start in the spring.
    John(Aberdeen)

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    1. Happy New Year John, thanks for your continues reading and commenting here!

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  2. They are a little late this year--drought and a suddenly "cold" December slowed them down. January will be better. ("Cold" meaning cold by our standards, not actually cold.)

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    1. While in LA we walked out of a restaurant as a guy was walking in, I was putting my jacket on and he was bundled up like he was in Alaska. "Bundle up, it's arctic out there!" he said...ah yes, the arctic 50's...

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  3. Happy New Year, Loree. Strangely enough, I'm reading the Oaxaca Journal too. One of the most moving things I read in 2015 was Sacks writing in the New York Times, describing his thoughts as he faced the rapidly approaching end to his life -- and I make it sound a lot sadder than he did!

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    1. The only thing I didn't like about Oaxaca Journal was how fast it went!

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  4. Gorgeous photos. We did go to Descanso. It was good, especially the woodland of CA oak underplanted with camellias. But it doesn't hold a candle to the Huntington. Now we're back in Chicago scraping inches of ice off our cars. Happy New Year!

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    1. Happy New Year Jason, hope you took lots of photos of Descanso!

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  5. Happy New Year! Those pix really make me want to visit again.

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  6. Happy new year, pal! What better way to start the year than with a warm, sunny, plant-lust-worthy visit to the Huntington! Thanks. Hope 2016 is your best year yet!

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  7. Happy New Year, Loree. Stunning. I'm almost speechless. You've taken just stellar photos of such beautiful plants and an amazing garden. I just love how the strong light accentuated the architectural form of the agaves ans aloes, as well as the deceivingly soft appearance of the densely spined cactus. Virtually every photo is my favorite. It really shows that no matter what your climate, it is possible to make a garden with contrasting shape, color and texture. Thanks for putting this together!

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    1. Thanks Tim, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Happy New Year to you.

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  8. Happy New Year, Loree! So spectacular, thanks for sharing your images. I read that Oliver Sacks book last year too, and loved it. If I go back, maybe I'll go in December. I do love blooming Aloes.

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    1. Yes, December (or early January) is a good time. Especially since it affords a nice break from our winter.

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  9. Happy new year, Loree! I missed the opportunity to visit the Huntington this weekend but hope to get there again soon - your photos whetted my appetite.

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    1. I'm sorry you missed the meet-up too, I bet it was good fun.

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  10. What a special place. That agave (HDG168) can not be real...

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