We’ve been kind of slacking on the blog front lately. It’s been way too nice out. Summer has arrived! It was sunny & 70 degrees at 5PM for three days in a row. The fog’s back, so we’re no longer lounging on the beach tossing the tennis ball for Max until sunset. Way back in mid-July we escaped the fog & hit up the UC-Santa Cruz Arboretum. Chuck B. at My Back 40 (feet) had his act together & posted about his visit within days here (lots of awesome pics).  Mimetes cucullates is so gosh darn rare & difficult to propagate that Annie’s charges $50.00 for a 4″ pot. Sounds like making babies is challenging, but so worth the wait. It’s a South African native.

I usually don’t usually get super excited about Acacias, but this one made a gigantic trailing hedge of blue-green awesomeness.  Maybe I’ve seen it around, but never really noticed it before? It’s not rare or anything, is it?

The bees were going nuts for all the blooming Grevilleas.

The Banksias were in full freakout mode. I don’t think the flower show ever ends here. It was a flower fest last January, too.

The Leucospermums were by far the most bloomiferous of the bunch. I somehow managed to compile every picture we’ve ever taken at the arboretum during our two visits in to one giant set labelled July 2011.