Thursday night botanical garden

Finally, a halfway decent picture of Iochroma cyaneum for you.









The Beaucarnia is flowering!



















Follow the trunk on that Echium. So cool!





I've been trying to get here after work for awhile. San Francisco is beautiful in the summer evening light. It follows that the Botanical Garden is even more beautiful. The garden closes at 5 p.m. I thought that meant noone could be in the garden past 5, but it means you can't enter after 5. You can exit through the turnstiles after the gates are locked.

But I didn't come here alone tonight. I'm here with my bff Kirsten who works for the non-profit arboretum foundation. For a living. Yes, she's that fabulous.

And she's a total brainiac. She knows immediately how to take close-ups with my camera. So now I know! I tell her this will dramatically increase the blog's photographic range. She said, "You have a blog?" She becomes the third person who knows me personally to learn that I have a blog.

Kirsten, thank you for showing me what that little button on my camera is for!















This odd, trailing dwarf conifer is one of my favorite plants in the whole garden.















Quail family!



(Sorry the picture's blurry. I generally try to keep my distance. There are usually at least two mating pair here every year. This brood covey seemed especially large. There were several more chicks not shown.)

There's a class tonight on 'Horticulture Therapy', like to learn how to help disabled people appreciate plants. Plants for blind people, plants for angry children. Something like that. Kirsten explained it better. They have a lot of classes here. These are the people in the class heading in to the garden.



They have classes and lectures and seminars going on all the time.







I love that there are two societies for succulent & cactus enthusiasts.



Do you belong to any horticultural societies? If so, which ones? If not, how come?



The offices are at the end of the hall. We're special so we can go inside and look around.



Last year's promotional posters. The arboretum has a large collection of magnolias from all over the world.





That's Kirsten's desk, and that's her hand.





An old aerial view of the botanical garden (along the bottom), Stow Lake (upper left), and the former California Academy of Science and DeYoung Museum (both now, or soon to be, in new structures).



After finishing some business, we're off for dinner.



This neighborhood is called 'the inner Sunset'.

This is le Video, generally considered the best movie rental store in San Francisco.











We're having burgers.