Spring Bloom In The Huntington Desert Garden

Gasteria
 Though there are still Aloes blooming in April, the majority are finished, and spring bloomers such as Puyas take over. 
Cericidium x 'Desert Museum'
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The Cericidium yellow competed with the glowing Golden Barrels.
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This Euphorbia was also ablaze.
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Dyckia 
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Pachycereus marginatus
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Agave marmorata has particularly bright flowers:
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Flowers all over the Euphorbia millii
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We counted eight fat hummingbirds fighting over this mass of hybrid Aloe flowers.  
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And many Puyas were just beginning their floral show.
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That amazing rich deep blue...
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These are enormous--24" (60 cm) tall, at least, on a 10' (3 meter) stalk.
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   photo dg5719_zps260f1264.jpg An out-of-the-ordinary Erythrina, E. acanthocarpa:
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House finches on a cactus
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How's this for tall? 
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In future, I will not hesitate to visit the Desert Garden in April.  There's more to it than Aloes.
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Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos from the Huntington. Following your lead, I took my mom over for a visit on Wednesday to see the roses. She's 91, so we limited our walking and I missed seeing the desert garden, always one of my favorites. I'll go back but it's a treat to see what I missed this time!

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    Replies
    1. I hope you had a lovely visit with your dear Mom. The Desert Garden is surely worth a return trip--and the Japanese Garden, and the Chinese Garden, and the galleries...

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  2. Thanks for saving me a trip, though I'm sure in person it's even better! The Parkinsonia X 'Desert Museum' (Cercidium) is stunning with those barrels...looks like a combo made in heaven, especially if I could add a blue wall in there somewhere when it appears in one of my designs...

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    1. A blue wall would be fantastic!

      In person you get the hummingbird fights--they add to the fun.

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  3. Great photo of the Gasteria. It's the hummingbirds' favorite plant right now. Actually all the photos are superb. Love the odd colors of the puya flowers.

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    1. Glad you liked the photos. The Puya colors are quite amazing--many of the Bromeliads have striking colors.

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  4. I've admired the foliage on Gasteria but I didn't know they produce such beautiful flowers. Now I HAVE to get one (or 2 or 3). I did acquire a Puya a couple of months ago but I understand I'll have a good long wait before I see it flower.

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    1. The Gasteria flowers look hand painted. The hummingbirds love them, too. My 10 year old Puya...still waiting...

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  5. So beautiful the Cericidium flowering over the Cactaea.

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  6. I know you had good subjects to work with, but your photos are beautiful.

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    Replies
    1. All you have to do there is stand and press the shutter button. There's beauty everywhere.

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