My Friend's Garden

My friend, who is an artist, made a seating area out of broken concrete, collected from a demolished house.

Azaleas are growing along the edges.

It is a shady garden with camellias, ferns and acanthus. 

A corner has potted plants and a raised bed for roses.

A wisteria is growing alongside the stairway to her studio.

Sparaxis

The Sparaxis are blooming now in my garden, native to South Africa.

This is Sparaxis tricolor also called Harlequin Flower because of its bright colors.

The purple ones are Sparaxis grandiflora, which as the name suggests, grow taller.

They bloom when the freesias bloom.

March in my Neighborhood

So many plants blooming in my neighborhood now.  Some of them are:

Pink Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia impetiginosa), native to South America,

Transvaal Daisy (Gerberia jamesonii), native to South Africa,

Jasmine polyanthum, native to China.

And the Azaleas from all over the world,

in many

different

colors.

Watts Towers-Part 2

Simon Rodia embedded tiles 

and rocks

and shells

and broken pottery

and bottles into the concrete,

as well as embossing patterns to leave most surfaces decorated.  In 1955 he gave his towers to his neighbor and moved away,  maybe tired of fighting the city over permits.   Eventually his towers came under the protection of the city of Los Angeles, but not before they attempted to pull the towers down.   Now it is a National Historical Monument.

Watts Towers-Part 1

Simon Rodia owned a triangular lot in the Watts section of Los Angeles.  In 1921 he began to build his towers and worked on them for 33 years.  The tallest tower is 99 feet high.

He was a construction worker and a tile mason.

The materials he used were scavenged, found along streets and railroad tracks.

They are formed from metal rods covered with concrete.

Garden Salads

In my winter garden there is plenty of arugula and

avocados and other things for salads:

kumquats, nasturtiums, cress, French sorrel and mache.

Combined in all different ways, salads of: arugula, avocado, and kumquats,

or mixed greens, nasturtium petals and fruit,

or arugula, preserved lemon and feta.

Early March in my Garden

This is the time of year when so many plants in my garden begin to bloom.  The fragrant orange blossoms,

lemon blossoms,

and the Pittosporum undulatum.  The fragrance of all three trees together is almost too much, especially at night when the Pittosporum fragrance is strongest.

The Santa Barbara Daisies (Erigeron karvinskianus), blooming all over, grow like weeds and even come up in cracks in the driveway.

The nasturtium or Tropaeolum are just starting to bloom and will continue on for months.

The Clivia miniata is a woodland plant, growing in the shadiest spots, where the bright flowers stand out.

Spring Starflower

The Spring Starflowers (Ipheion uniflorum), native to Argentina, are in full bloom now in my garden.

They are in the allium family and their leaves smell like onions.

The flowers are white or shades of pale blue.