Taking advantage of our warm weather here in SF, we headed to one of our GoTo spots for dazzling displays of color…the SF Botanical Garden at Strybing.  Speaking of gorgeous, this yellow bell-shape bloom above is a Bomarea species. It seems to meander in and out of the other cloud foresty shrubs while showing off its dense umbel of flowers.

Here’s another Bomarea buddy in a shade of reddish-orange. They have tuberous roots and belong to the Peruvian Lilly Family (Alstroemeriaceae).  Odd tidbit about Bomarea, the leaves are resupinate…that is, each leave twists from the base so that the top of the leaf is actually the underside.

Colletia ulicina is another cloud forest bloomer found in Chile where locals call it Cunco Rojo. Those aren’t lime green leaves you’re seeing, they’re short spiny thorns…ouch. Oh…check it out, J.G. in S.F. has the sweet pic of Colletia ulicina. Wow!

Ahh, the Ribes are starting to pop…Cactus Jungle has a recent pic.  It’s a sure sign that spring is just around the corner.

Roldana chapalensis is an intriguing shrub.  Frankly, I can’t remember ever seeing it before, but the large-scale blooms and odor caught my attention.  It had one of those guilty pleasure scents…I thought it smelled a little off, but couldn’t stop sniffing it.

The succulent section was looking glam.  These Puya coerulea var. violacea (Dark Purple Puya) were standing proud with their stiff, sharp and silver leaf blades.

Can’t get enough of this Agave parryi var. parryi mescal (on the bottom right).  Yes, the drought tolerant peeps are looking lush.

Okay, we’ve searched a couple times at Strybing looking for this Wollemia nobilis…aka the Wollemia Pine.  Well, we finally found it!  Yeah, we could have asked for directions, but that takes all the fun out of it.  BTW, the Wollemia Pine is pretty rare.  Check out an early post of one we found in the East Bay.

One last adorable show of color during our hike.  We couldn’t find an ID for it, but thought somebody probably knows what it is.  Any guesses on this purple bloomer?   Before we forget, Strybing is having a plant sale this Saturday Feb 11, great time to load up.

– Far Out Flora