Saturday adventures

My sister and I went to Descanso Gardens on Saturday which I have to admit is just about one of my favourite places on the planet. If you live in the Southern California area now is the time to visit because spring is definitely sprung up there. http://www.descansogardens.org/

It is always lovely but in spring it’s magnificent. They plant the beds with a succession of daffodils and tulips. Last year it was all shades of pinks and purples but this year it’s all shades of yellow through red and I very partial to any flower that is a true yellow. I have no idea why. I won’t wear yellow but I’m a sucker for a yellow flower.

All the cherry trees were in full bloom and there was a bus load of Japanese tourist in front of them having their picture taken. Why you go half way around the world to have your picture taken in front of a tree from home I will never know. When I worked the electronics counter at a mall in college in summer we used to get bus loads of Japanese tourists and the first place they stopped was the electronics counter to take pictures of the Japanese electronics and I didn’t understand that either.

It was my last foray with my poor old camera and it did yeoman’s duty as always although its meter was rather cranky on manual setting. I’m going to have to experiment with the new one to find out how hot its meter is going to read.

The camellias were still in bloom. They have a literal forest of camellias up there. It makes you feel like you are very tiny and in a magic forest. The camellias are over 20 feet tall and sometimes thirty feet tall under towering oaks. You are surrounded by camellias of white through deep red. We did see one brand new one from Nuccio’s wrapped up to protect it from the deer and it was pale yellow and it is going to involve a field trip up to Nuccio’s in Altadena I fear because I developed a severe case of camellia lust and so did Alison. www.nucciosnurseries.com/ Some one put it under a pale yellow Japanese magnolia which is something else you don’t see very often and it was lovely too.

In the mulberry pond were the turtles and koi and one poor disabled male mallard. He was all beaten up and it appeared he had one leg and was blind in at least one eye. He was all by himself and I was glad he had found some place safe but there are coyotes up there and at least one mountain lion passes through there twice a year so I hope he stays safe.

They have a Japanese tea house but it was too crowded to go near so we went to the lilac garden that is just starting to bloom and smelled heavenly. For non-Californians, very few lilacs will grow here and the ones that do were hybridized at Descanso so it’s fun to see all the different ones they have tried and smell all of them. The best one is still Lavendar Lady.

We were going to make a stop at the Swedish bakery so we called ahead to see if they had limpa and they had run out by 9:30am. Next time I’m having my sister call on Friday night.

My sister and I had a lovely day and I want to go up again in a few weeks to see the next phase of spring when the roses start blooming.