More San Diego Sunshine

Two different Agave blooms.  One full of seeds and no bulbils, the other all bulbils!
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The rest of the sights from the San Diego Botanic Garden.  This next Agave stalk covered with bulbils was fantastic.  I was itching to pick off a bulbil (no I didn't!), though I could not identify the parent.  There was no sign, and the plant was so completely deflated it was unrecognizable as an Agave.
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In contrast, this A. attenuata stalk was just beginning its journey.  Bees were loving it.  
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The arc of the flower stalk is mirrored by its shadow:
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In some shade, an out-of-the-common Agave, A. pachycentra, had a dramatically pale new leaf:
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Back in brilliant sun, an Opuntia for you Opuntia fans: 
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The Aloes were the stars of the day:  davyana
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Elegans (I think):
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Ferox breathtaking yet again, behind emerging vanbalenii
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And possibly wickensii, which has that distinctive two-color effect.  No sign, though, so do not trust my ID:
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A mass of 'Grassy Lassie"
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I don't remember which one this was:
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Similar colors on a different genus, one of the last of a huge mass of Kniphofia blooms.  The rest were done:
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The garden had several Green roofs.
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If not for the fascia, you might mistake this for a berm, but yes, that's a roof:
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The mild zone 24 conditions (we were in sight of the Pacific) make this pristine lushness possible.  In my 23, they'd be a little thinner, a little crisper.  This, this, ladies and gentlemen, is what a completely happy Aeonium looks like:
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Something called a "Spear Lily", Doryanthes palmeri, was opening. (Doryanthes info here.)
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The Doryanthes looked something like a Furcraea with rattier foliage.  Spots, burnt tips and edges.  Ehhhh.  After that pristine Aeonium clump, ehhhh.  Perhaps a fully open flower makes the foliage tolerable.
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There were two Furcraea actually blooming, which I'd never seen.  The flower stalk was so tall I could not get a good photo.  Individual flowers, way, way up there, were lovely, something like hellebores, only 25' (7 M) high.  
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Also blooming, white Echium.  The hummingbirds were loving this, zooming through trails of equally ecstatic bees.
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In nearby dappled shade, this backlit Adenanthos sericeus gave me pause.  I killed one of these quite a few years ago, and still feel terrible about it.  Probably always will.  
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Great visit.  It was just the right day.
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Comments

  1. Thank you for this post. Now I want to visit San Diego even more than before. Now seems to be a good time, based on your photos :-)

    Gerhard
    :: Bamboo and More ::

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  2. I don't know which are more beautiful, the plants or your pictures!

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  3. Wonderful pictorials from the SDBG. I've never seen a furcraea bloom before, and so many other rare sights. I'm guessing you're not much of an opuntia fan either. And someone needs to weed out that limonium/statice pronto...

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  4. @Gerhard: Shame on me, I didn't take a single Bamboo photo. They have a whole section for them. Sorry!

    @danger, the plants!

    @Denise, much drier there, the Limonium not so much of a problem. No, Opuntia does nothing for me--always assumed it was another of my character flaws...

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  5. Another great set of photos (and plants)! The attenuata bloom: wow! I had no idea they could get that impressive! Winter has barely started and you're giving me spring fever already. ;-)

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  6. Great Photos! That A. attenuata is a thing of beauty, it's shadow so strange. A nice tour indeed.

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