12/27/2007

Today was rather gray.

It's supposed to rain for a few days, starting tonight. Then it will be clear again.

I had some errands and a date for lunch at the Botanical Garden this afternoon. After lunch, I strolled and took some pictures.

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It was hard to escape the gray.

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Things on my mind: recent events at the Zoo (putting me in an especially sour mood), scheduling a follow-up appointment with veterinarian (Penny came down with giardia while we were in Hawaii over Thanksgiving--a protest statement? The symptoms are gone, but we need to make sure the parasite is gone), paying for a swing I want to put in my garden (I saw one I like in Half Moon Bay; it costs $500, and that doesn't include any kind of delivery expense which I haven't figured out yet), finding a job (vs. not finding a job), and wondering why I didn't bring a jacket because it was rather cold.

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What is this? I have no idea. If there was a sign, it was obscured under rampant growth.

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There are still many plants here that I don't know anything about.

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Most of the flower action's in the South Africa section right now. This is Leucadendron 'Red Gem'.

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This would be a good time to visit the arboretum at UC Santa Cruz. They have a large collection of Protaceae.

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Pink Nerine.

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Pretty flower, but a ton of strappy foliage.

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Pink Erica.

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This pink Protea always makes me think of a bird. Don't those look like feathers?

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This is a tree I don't see very much, Luculia pinceana (Rubiaceae). The flowers are highly fragrant and sweet.

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The nicest specimen I know of is just outside the Botanical Garden, between the two entrances. This one seems too woody.

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Do you know the name of this fern?

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Could it be an especially pink Dryopteris erythrosora? I think of D. erythrosora as being more copper colored, but "erythros" means red.

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Quite a lot of pink today. Let's move on.

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More Protaceae. These are Banksia.

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And this is Plectranthus; I'm a big fan. I helped to plant this patch.

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Sometimes this plant has a different texture when you approach it from the shady side; I like that.

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Melianthus major has foliage I admire too.

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This reflects how I feel a little bit today. Pointed and sharp.

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But if you actually touch it it's not sharp at all.

7 comments:

Christopher C. NC said...

The world makes more sense in a garden because most of the world is left outside of the garden.

chuck b. said...

That's a very provocative idea, isn't it. Yours?

Delphine said...

Bonjour Chuck. I send you my best wishes from France. You should have stolen a little red fern at the botanical garden, they are splendid !
Your french admirer

lisa said...

Feathers for sure, and I really like that fern. No help in the ID dept. though, but I enjoyed the pictures just the same. I'm in a restless funk myself...do you suppose somebody dropped a "bummer bomb" somewhere? Mood warfare?

Ewa said...

I really enjoyed the walk - great you had that lunch over there.
BTW, do you mind if I link you on my blog?

hkki said...

beautiful garden and photos

Anonymous said...

That might be a Salvia wagnerii. (The red flowered bush)