My husband says this is taking it a little too far…

I’m pretty good at letting my imagination run wild and think up all sorts of horrible things that “might happen,” a fire at our home is pretty close to the top of the list.

I recently commented on the door stickers one of our neighbors had. In the unthinkable event of a fire, the stickers let fire rescue know how many pets might be in need of help. They kindly gave a couple to us…

Andrew thinks I’ve taken it a little too far.

If a Saguaro falls in the desert, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Last October, when we vacationed in the Desert SW, our final stop before getting on the plane was the Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix, conveniently located right by the airport. For Andrew it was a chance to have one more look at the historic cultures of the area. And for me, one last look at the desert flora.

Doesn’t this Opuntia look thirsty?

Something unfortunate appears to have happened here…

Doesn’t seem to have slowed it down much though.

If I lived in the desert I would definitely have an Ocotillo fence…

A Saguaro with reconstructed Hohokam structures in the background.

Which brings me to the title of this post…

We were surprised to see a Saguaro lying on its side. Due to the crusty looking; burnt-out end we thought maybe lighting had hit it (there had been a lightening storm just the night before, cancelling my nephews little league game)

Turns out the folks running the museum didn’t even know it had fallen over until a visitor went into tell them. They figure it must happened during the night.

They think it had been diseased for quite some time and just finally couldn’t stand up any longer, it was interesting to see.

Chainfruit Cholla…

Can you see the chains?

Brittle bush, Encelia farinose

And my last Agave of the two week vacation, I’m getting all misty eyed just thinking about it…

Luckily there’s a trip to Phoenix in the works sometime early in the New Year so I’ll be able to stock up on my desert plant energy, and who knows…maybe find a few new friends to bring home!

Chinese dunce caps, or Orostachys iwarenge...

Over the years there have been so many plants in the Annie’s Annuals catalogues which capture my attention, one such plant is the Chinese dunce cap, or Orostachys iwarenge.

Last June at the Friends of Manito plant sale in Spokane, WA, I had the chance to pick up a couple of 4” containers. Here’s what they looked like then…

As they first started to get their "cap"...

And now, as a dunce cap has truly taken shape …

Annie’s description: “Beginning as a low dense spreading mat (to 12” across) of lovely small blue-grey rosettes, it soon forms a multitude of totally cool pinkish conical spires inspiring one to imagine a little elfin cityscape. In late Summer-Fall, the spires reach 6” tall, blossoming with pink & white frilly flowers much like a miniature “Tower of Jewels”…Will die after flowering but it self-sows & makes side rosettes to repeat its magic every year!”

I only know one person who has grown this plant and she’d never had any luck with them self-sowing as Annie says they will. Have you?

Not all of the clump is forming a cap so I hope some of these will live on to entertain me next year…

The Santa Barbara Botanical Garden

At least I can’t be accused of rushing things; here I am in September finally posting pictures from our visit to the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden back in May.

We didn’t plan to visit the SBBG, and had I known we would find ourselves with a free day in Santa Barbara I would have schemed another visit to Lotusland (just 5 miles away from the SBBG). However it was Memorial Day and Lotusland does require reservations in advance, and after all there is something to be said for branching out and visiting new places! So we set out for the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden…

The most important thing for you to know is the SBBG has an emphasis on California native plants. As a lover of most everything Californian this sounded like a good thing, however some in my party weren’t so impressed, comparing our outing to a walk we could have taken anywhere. Just warning you…

Agave shawii, beautiful! There were many more of these along the path so don’t worry I’ve got a couple more pictures to share.

There was a nursery right near the gift shop; we took a peek in there before beginning our treck. So many good things...

I really wanted to bring home one of these Nolina parryi, and I should have. Hindsight is so much clearer...

We started out  in the Desert Section: “This section features species that thrive in California’s coastal or interior desert regions, such as California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera), the only palm tree native to the state”... (from their brochure).

I don’t know for sure but I’m guessing these are Agave celsii…

Opuntia oricola, Chaparral Prickly pear. It's kind of amazing how the green pads are growing out of what looks to be dead wood.

I can’t help it, I love these signs telling you what plants have been used for over the years. I still hope to try some Yucca soap or shampoo someday.

Here are the other Agave shawii I promised you…

That Nolina parryi I should have bought, planted out.

Yucca brevifolia, better known as the Joshua Tree.

Epipactis gigantea (Stream Orchid)

Arctostaphylos glauca (Bigberry Manzanita). At the end of the garden there was an entire section devoted to Manzanitas, but I found the most interesting specimens (like this one) dotted throughout the garden.

Look at that bright green new growth! (I believe it's a Sequoia)

Andrew found this adorable little caterpillar…

Now we come to the Dudleya Collection, I had no idea how beautiful these plants are! Why are they called “Live-forever?” because they are extremely long lived plants and with the right care can live to be 100 years old. “Dudleya is a genus of succulent perennials, consisting of about 45 species in southwest North America. Many plants in the Dudleya genus were formerly classified as Echeveria… The genus is named after William Russell Dudley, the first head of the botany department at Stanford University. In horticulture, Dudleya should be planted at an angle. This allows accumulated water to drain from the nestlike center of the plant, thus preventing microbial decay” (source).

Dudleya abramsii, San Luis Obispo Live-forever

Dudleya viscida, Sticky Live-forever

Not a Dudleya but very cool…Coreopsis gigantea

Dudleya albiflora, White-flowered Live-forever

Dudleya cultrata

Aesculus californica (California Buckeye)

And the flowers…

In the Meadow Section…Solidago canadensis ssp. elongata (Canada Goldenrod)

And Eriogonum giganteum (St. Catherine's Lace)

Next we walked over to the Ceanothus Section; however since we were there after they’d finished blooming they weren’t terribly prominent. However the blooming Yuccas were…

Yucca whipplei

A Fremontodendron

Anyone able to identify this ground cover?

Arctostaphylos glauca x 'Canyon Blush' (Canyon Blush Manzanita)

And some late blooming Ceanothus behind the Poppies…

I think Andrew was was practicing his Pinocchio impersonation...

Here’s what it looks like to stare up into a massive group of Yucca flowers…

And the tiny plant producing such a monster…

With that our visit comes to an end, hope you enjoyed it! In my book Santa Barbara is a plant mecca, and I enjoyed visiting the SBBG where it isn't all glitz and glam but rather lots and lots of hardworking native plants.