Succulents and More™

Let's continue our walk through the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden . If you missed part 1, you can find it here . The first photo I took on this visit was of a rainbow eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus deglupta ) growing in the middle of the lawn area adjacent to Ayres Hall where the Inter-City Cactus and Succulent Show was held. I've seen rainbow eucalyptus thrive in Hawaii—no surprise, seeing how the climate there is similar to its native habitats in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea—but inland Los Angeles County is a more surprising location for this frost-tender gum. If there's a tree with more colorful bark, I'm not aware of it. Rainbow eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus deglupta ), native to Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea and the only eucalypt living in a rainforest environment. So beautiful, so frost-tender. Impossible to grow here in Davis. Speaking of trees, there are plenty of special specimens at the LA County Arboretum. Some stand ou

Last weekend I was in Southern California for the 36th Inter-City Cactus and Succulent Show and Sale , the largest event of its kind in the country—and possibly the world. It’s held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden , just a few miles from the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens , which I also visited. I’ll have a separate post about the Inter-City Show. Here’s just one photo of the sales area outside Ayres Hall, taken during a lull in the mad rush that marked the first few hours on Friday morning: It was very humid during this year’s Inter-City Show, the influence of the monsoons that caused massive flooding in Death Valley—what the National Park Service calls a “ 1,000 year rain event .” I’m used to summer heat, but the humidity gets to me so my plans to explore the farther-flung reaches of the Arboretum went nowhere. I did, however, walk through the areas closest to Ayres Hall, including the Desert Display Garden. You’ll find photos of these ar