Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

Since we're coming up on the one year anniversary of my 2017 trip to Los Angeles (a point driven home when reading Gerhard's post on Piece of Eden and remembering I was there at about this time last year) I guess it's time I finally write about the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden...

There's a nursery on site, unfortunately it was closed on the day of my visit.

That didn't stop me from peeking through the fence (and wishing I could shop!).

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this garden, especially since I mentioned my fondness for succulents, Agaves and "desert plants" to the fellow at the entrance and he warned me there wouldn't be much of that here. Oh well, I'd spent the morning wandering the Pitzer College campus so I'd gotten my fill there, whatever I discovered here would just be icing.

Turns out there was a lot of icing to discover...

Opuntia x vaseyi

This patch of Agave shawii alone was worth the price of admission ($9).

I adore this Agave and just don't see it very often.

Yucca baccata

I can't even imagine how old this plant must be to have such a lengthy trunk.

Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. coloradensis

Opuntia erinacea var. ursina, the "grizzly-bear cactus".

Nolina parryi

Opuntia ramosissima

Opuntia chlorotica

Cylindropuntia x fosbergii, the pink teddy-bear Cholla.

Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris

The pattern of dots is mesmerizing.

I wanted to pick this up and take it home. I did not.

Ferocactus cylindraceus var. lecontei.

Why let a little thing like falling over, and looking dead, stop you from growing?

Cylindropuntia echinocarpa, the silver Cholla.

Yucca schidigera

Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. coloradensis

The most surreal asparagus-looking Agave bloomspike I've ever seen (might be Agave deserti).

Dudleya hassei, aka Santa Catalina live-forever.

There was an entire upper section of the garden with shrubs and perennials ("California Plant Communities") but by the time I made it up there the light was fading and my camera finger was tired.

So I just wandered and enjoyed.

I previously shared my photos from stunning The Palm Oasis at the RSABC (here) and can definitely recommend a visit if you find yourself in Claremont, California.

Weather Diary, Jan 8: Hi 45, Low 35/ Precip .07"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

24 comments:

  1. The picture of Ferocactus cylindraceus that just keeps on growing is probably my favorite. A close second is Yucca baccata for it's unreal bent trunk: what could have bent it like this and without breaking it? magic. I read the intro sign and wonder if the rare/endangered plans are marked as such for visitors' benefit.

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    1. I do not remember seeing any signs that identified the rare of endangered. Maybe I just missed them?

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  2. Oh My! What was that guy thinking? That place is chock-full of scary, stabby, poky plants.

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    1. I just don't get it. Unless he had avoided that whole section of the garden.

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  3. I'm so glad you posted these photos. I've never been to the RSABG and really wanted to go on my December trip but there just wasn't enough time. But it's on my list for my next trip. And I do want to shop at that nursery!!!

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    1. Plan accordingly! (for nursery shopping) I think you'll love the garden Gerhard. I thought I read next year was San Diego?

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  4. Maybe the guy you spoke to is jaded from being around all those great plants all the time.

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    1. Could be, or maybe he just ignored that section of the garden in favor of the other areas? Either way not a great person to be out front selling admission.

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  5. "Why let a little thing like falling over and looking dead stop you from growing?" You slay me. Looks like a lot of cacti and succulents to me.

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    1. Well good. I think you're always "slaying" the rest of us. Back at cha!

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  6. So glad you found something to like! IMO that broken-off basilaris opuntia was fair game, but then again you don't want to find your face on "Wanted" posters at botanical gardens ;)

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  7. I love that Opuntia basilaris var basilaris..just hoping my little one will survive the winter here and a leaky greenhouse roof !

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  8. Haven't been back for a repeat visit in over 15 years, but I remember the gardens as being a premier garden for California natives and horticultural cultivars, many of them first created here. It's one of the best gardens for seeing how to landscape with natives, particularly useful for inland gardeners who can see cultivars better suited for inland heat, less rainfall and more smog. We're lucky to now have Bart O'brien heading up the EBRPD Tilden Botanic Garden here in Berkeley, he was at RSABG for many years.

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    1. The garden had the feel of wandering through a large private garden, relaxed, naturalistically planted. Hope you make it back sometime.

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  9. Were you just highly selective with your picture-taking, or did the fellow at the entrance understate the scope of the succulents, cacti and related spiky plants? I've yet to make it out that way. (I can hear you tut-tutting!)

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    1. I spent most of my photo taking energy in the lower part of the garden, where these plants all were. There's an entire upper section that was spike-free.

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  10. Replies
    1. Exactly what this PNW gardener needed in January (twice).

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  11. Guy at the entrance: "You won't find many succulents here."
    Loree: "Challenge accepted." Proceeds to photograph mass quantities of cacti and other succulents.

    He either had a very dry sense of humor (climatically-appropriate humor?) or he assumed you were meant euphorbias, aloes, echeverias, and other non-native succulents.

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    1. Dare I say it, but I think his issue was just a lack of appreciation.

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  12. This looks great. If I find myself in southern California again I will definitely put it on the list.

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  13. Thanks so much for posting, Loree! We tried to see it last February, after visiting Pitzer's beautiful landscaping. It was very cold, cloudy and started to pour down rain as we drove into the parking lot. We ate lunch hoping it would pass but sadly it kept on raining... all the way back to Palm Springs! Looks like this year we will definitely have to try again.

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