Succulent Wonderland
The day after Thanksgiving I headed up to the foggy SF Botanical Garden to see what was happening. The succulent section is looking super sweet right now with all the Aloe arborescens freaking out. They’re starting to go nuts in gardens all over town right now, too. Winter Aloe bloom time is one of my favorite flower seasons. Check out the mega-giant Agave salmiana starting to shoot out a flower.
Montanoa grandiflora
Lots of crazy tree daisy action going on. This one smells like cupcakes. Sweet, sweet cupcakes. I think I stood in front of it for at least five minutes just sniffing. It’s right off the main path that goes by the succulent section at the bottom of the hill across from Puya hill.
Vertical Agave attenuata
I wish I had a rock wall of my very own to shove full of succulents.
Brugmansia sanguinea
I’m still obsessed with Brugmansia sanguinea. This one has some really nice coloration. Ours isn’t as deep red. I still get a little freaked out when I see how big our “little” guy could potentially get (I’m still in denial about its size).
Cuphea micropetala
There were masses of Cuphea micropetala blooming in the Exhibition Garden, which I often forget to visit.
Nerine bowdenii
Nerine bowdenii was going completely crazy in the South African section. There are masses and masses of it looking pretty all over the place.
Pretty Protea repens
One last pretty bloom. Check out our buddy Derek’s blog post on Plantgasm for more cool pics (he went the day after me). More pics from my visit are here on flickr, too.
December 11, 2011 at 3:33 pm
What a wonderful place! Looks like I need to put this on my need to see list!
December 11, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Gorgeous, gorgeous pictures – The one of the Protea is practically glowing! Aloe arborescens is one of those plants that makes me really sad that I do not live in a Mediterranean climate.
December 11, 2011 at 9:43 pm
These are great photos. I was just admiring some of the same plants at the UC botanical garden. I smelled that montanoa for the first time ever and I had to find a tag to figure out that nerine plant. Really nice.
December 12, 2011 at 9:55 am
That Cuphea micropetala is awesome for late season color. It’s hard to find a good time to cut it back because it just keeps on going and going. Great pics and great blog. if there is anyone local who can ID all those plants above without looking at the titles, I want to hire you: http://tinyurl.com/d2s8hok
December 13, 2011 at 12:45 am
I love seeing Aloe arborescens blooming in other people’s gardens. They just get so gigantic and that tangle of spiky leaves seem like a hassle to have to cope with if you want to keep them in check. Great plant for a big trouble area though or to block out an ugly neighbor.
I didn’t have time for SF Botanical last time I was in town. I’ll definitely have to hit it up next time. It has been over 10 years now since I have been.