Check out these Lilies (Lilium speciosum)…deliciously gorgeous. We finally made it over to Quarryhill Botanical Garden located just north of SF in Glen Ellen, CA. They focus on Asian plants where seeds are collected from the wild. Don’t worry…they go through legal channels.

Though not shown above, Platycodon grandiflorus blooms look more like a big old hot air balloon before opening. Take a peek how the flower looks pre full display on Jon’s Home Blog.

I know these are rose hips, but no idea which ones. The hips were huge…about the size of a small lime. I heard that Quarryhill seeks out old school, non-cultivar roses for their collection. Not up to speed on roses, does anybody have a guess on its name?

Bees were humming all over the place on these Scabiosas. Megan pointed out to me that we’ve been growing some unknown cultivar in our garden. Yeah, I sometimes loose track of all our plants. Ours bloomed all summer, and still popping with flowers.

Walking along the well maintained walking trails, we saw lots of spans of lilies…many weren’t flowering at the moment, but this Leopard Lily (Belamcanda chinensis) was stunning. Plants are the Strangest People had a random event with these guys…check out the seeds.

This was a freaky golden flower. It looked like it was emerging from the ground…probably from the base. Best ID I could come up with was some sort of weird Strelitzia, but Megan came through figuring out it was a Musella lasiocarpa (Golden Lotus Banana). Go Megan!

Golden Spider Lily Is a well-suited name for this guy. Sounds like Lycoris aurea are hard ones to get to bloom. It’s more likely to flower where it’s hot and dry during the summer. Glen Ellen, CA is the perfect climate for it. Still can’t believe that this Botanical Garden has been off our radar. Likely a new favorite haunt while we head north to wine country.

– Far Out Flora