Quail Botanical Gardens - artwork

Thursday October 1, 2009

Pele - Goddess of Fire

I'm not always partial to artworks in gardens. This sculpture was interesting though for the material it was made from, an orange-copper-coloured metal. It shimmers and shines as you move around it, which, of course, you can't see in a still photo.

But the mariachi band topiaries (of sorts) were really cute and well done. I almost got caught up in the movement and music even though it was imaginary.

Perhaps the most interesting part of our visit wasn't a plant or artwork - it was a person, an older woman who volunteers at the gardens. She lives in Solana Beach but was originally from Victoria, and had an interesting family and background. She gave us the address of her childhood house here so we could take photos and send them to her. We enjoyed talking to her so much I thought we might not get around to seeing the gardens.

Quail Botanical Gardens

Thursday October 1, 2009

After lunch in Encinitas, we drove inland a short distance to the Quail Botanical Gardens.

This sign, which I superimposed on the picture, probably doesn't exist any more. The garden's name has been changed to the San Diego Botanic Garden.

The Torrey Pine (some call it the Del Mar Pine) is not endangered, it's not remarkable in appearance, the wood is brittle and doesn't even make good firewood, but it lives on the seaside cliffs in poor soil and survives drought and storms. It is the rarest native pine in the USA, growing naturally in just a small area of California from about La Jolla to Solana Beach, with a subspecies growing on an island off the coast of Santa Barbara.

I was also fascinated by these Cork Oak trees.

Farther into the garden we go. There are several areas: Mexican garden, New Zealand garden, natural coastal habitat, herb garden, to name a few.

Does anyone know what the tree on the left is with the clumps that look like strings of peas?

By the afternoon it was baking hot - I think it got to 30°C but it felt hotter so this was not the best time to be visiting desert areas. I had to abandon the idea of trekking out in the open to the Children's Garden, which might have been interesting, and find some shade.

Glenn had found his favourite Plumeria flower. He picked a fallen blossom off the ground and sat happily sniffing it in inside a shady, walled garden while I toured more of the gardens.

The nation's largest bamboo garden is here. I never knew there were so many different types. (Bottom picture doesn't show much bamboo - I just liked all the green and yellow.) Info from their signs: "Bamboos grow in 2 different growth patterns - runners and clumpers. Running bamboos have underground shoots that can grow thirty feet in one season." And, "Unlike most plants, many bamboos only flower after long time periods, from 10 to 20, even 150-years intervals. After producing heavy crops of seeds most bamboos die."

The fruit orchard was a nice shady place to be. A sign with the banana plants says they're the world's tallest herb. (!)

Left: Natal Cycad. From the internet - Cycads are often referred to as living fossils... traced back as far as 160 million years.

Middle: I thought this might be a Pineapple Guava blossom but the leaves don't look right, so I don't know what it is.

Right: Olulu Brighamia. "This is one of the most unusual plants in Hawaii. Once common, they are almost extinct and grow only on cliffs in Kauai." It's also known as Cabbage On a Stick.

Victoria Amazonica. Plate it in silver and it would make a nice platter. Apparently the leaves can grow up to more than 9 feet in diameter! Google it and you'll see a picture of a baby sitting on one. I didn't even notice the frog in there until we saw the pictures at home.

This looks like the tree used in the garden's logo, yet I can't find any information on it. So I'm guessing it's a quiver tree.

To Encinitas

Thursday October 1, 2009

The drive through Torrey Pines park was disappointing. The road goes mostly behind rather than through it. Not to worry - we'll come back to this later.

On the other side of the park, the road comes down to the ocean where we had our first glimpse of surfers.

In no time at all we were driving through Del Mar. The distances between towns are very short, not like driving from here to Duncan. Del Mar looked very nice. It was my favourite town of the ones we saw up the coast. It would be a great place to stay... or to live if you had enough money. We really should have spent some time there, but we carried on through Solana Beach (Spanish for 'a place warmed by the sun'?) and Cardiff-by-the-Sea to Encinitas. This was a relaxing drive on this road. Not much traffic.

We arrived at Encinitas (pronounce the S - I read this means 'little live oaks') and stopped at a shopping area called The Lumberyard. That's because it used to be a lumberyard.

Not surprisingly there was a surfboard shop. It's all about surfing around here... and shopping and eating of course. We had lunch at the St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro. I think the ham and melted cheese croissant and salad with ranch dressing was Glenn's favourite meal of the whole trip. Amazingly, he liked that salad so much, he actually ate lettuce that wasn't iceberg! In all the time I've known him I have never seen that happen.

Time for a map

Thursday October 1, 2009

Click map to enlarge. La Jolla is marked with a pink square. We'll be driving north from there, along the coast.

In the La Jolla area a bit north of our hotel are the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Stephen Birch Aquarium and the Salk Institute. Jonas Salk, of polio vaccine fame, lived here, I think... at least he died here.

A 3 day airshow was on this weekend so we saw some jets blasting around. We chuckled when we heard the Snowbirds would be there - Glenn has seen enough of them to last a lifetime. The airshow was being held at the Miramar Naval Air Station - the large grey area east of La Jolla.

Our main destination was the Quail Botannical Gardens in Encinitas. Otherwise, plans were loose.