A Garden on the Monterey Bay

I visited a garden near the Monterey Bay on the Central Coast of California. This is a view of the Monterey Bay with a field of strawberries in the foreground.

It is a place of damp foggy mornings.

The Coastal Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) have moss growing from their branches.

The hydrangeas grow into huge clumps, covered with flowers.

This is the perfect climate

for them.

A Santa Barbara Hillside

On a hillside above Santa Barbara looking out toward the Pacific Ocean is a garden of native and drought tolerant plants.

It is a place where the Coastal Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) grows.  The trees are native to California within 100 meters of the Pacific Ocean, west of the Central Valley.  They can live almost 300 years.

These are some of the flowering plants

that grow here

and do well

without much water.

A Visit to the Hammer Museum

The Hammer Museum in Westwood, California is having a "Made in L.A." exhibition.  Here is some of the work in the show.

My Neighbor's Garden

My neighbor's back garden has a collection of

potted plants and

sculptures, statues, ceramics,

tables,

and plant stands.

She has spent many weekend

hours at yard sales

to put all this together.

Getty Center/ More Flowers and Some Water

In the Circle Garden of the Getty Center clumps of Batchelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus ) 

are growing.

Colors are mixed together as in an Impressionist painting.

Here is a Roman mosaic of a boater collecting Lotus blossoms with an accompaniment of flute music.

A pair of ducks stopped by a pool of water because

the fountains

are very inviting.

Getty Center/ Poppies in the Circle Garden

This summer in the Circle Garden at the Getty Center a variety of poppies are blooming.

Different colors

and forms,

some are California Poppies,

others are from the Old World.

This one is an Afghanistan Poppy, very popular with the bees.