Botanical Highlights from Northern California

I will need a vacation when I return home from this vacation. As I write this it is raining outside here in the Bay Area and back home it is sunny and warm. When I return, I am guessing that I will have nothing but a lot of work to do. (How gardens can grow!) 

Rather than go on and on about the trip so far, I've instead chosen some highlights and I will fill in all the botanical garden and plant information in the coming days. I also want to add that having my AHS membership card has been wonderful because it has made viewing all of the gardens much easier and a whole lot less expensive. I think next time though I will have to get a card for my husband too. Now that he has seen more of the botanical gardens down here, he'd like to go back to them sometimes when he's traveling doing wine sales work. (AHS Reciprocal Admissions Program)

My husband enjoying one of my favorite little waysides in the redwoods. 

A mosquito sculpture beside a pond at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, Fort Bragg, CA.

A Fuchsia hedge in the garden of a residence in Fort Bragg, CA. I was very jealous.

Discovering Sedum along the ocean at Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County, CA.

I know this is a special plant but I will have to look up the name later. We found it in the Kruse Rhododendron Reserve. near Salt Point State Park in Sonoma Co., CA.

Fancy chickens at Annie's Annuals. I CANNOT say enough about their nursery. We had a wonderful time and it was easy to find over in Richmond, CA.

This is a transmission repair show that I would trust in San Carlos, CA.

I cannot say enough about Prickly Pears. My other name, Ficurinia, means Prickly Pear in Sicilian dialect.  I would happily live with this lovely prickly friend in San Carlos, CA.

Bottlebrush plants are not for me but I do love their blooms, San Carlos, CA.

Really cool tree outside of the famous restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA. 

Wall of Thunbergia at a wine shop in Berkeley, CA.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge (far in the distance) as seen from the Berkeley Botanical Gardens, CA.

Today is yet another adventure, and tomorrow too, but I am afraid we have finally been slowed down by one of my really amazing and sweet old college friends. Yesterday, much food was eaten and our last meal was so decadent it is embarrassing to mention. Let's just say that we ate Italian-style—for several hours—and each of the four courses had two to four different dishes. The meal was seriously heavenly.