California

Sadly, I can’t seem to get this to grow in Arizona, although “they” say it is possible. On this trip to California, the timing was right to enjoy this beautiful cluster of flowers with a nice delicate fragrance. Click on the image to enlarge.

Wikipedia says:

Crassula falcata, known by the common names airplane plant and propeller plant, is a succulent plant endemic to South Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope. The foliage is gray-green with striking texture, on plants that grow to 2 feet tall. The flowers are tiny and scarlet red, that rise in dense clusters above the foliage for a month in summer. Crassula falcata is cultivated for use in drought tolerant and succulent gardens, and in container gardens.

The timing for travel to the California house was just perfect for us to enjoy the blooming of the white epiphyllum flower in the planter on the side of the house. I went out of the gate near the flowerbed and took this image of the flower this afternoon. By tomorrow, the flower will have wilted and the plant it grows on will go dormant until about the same time next June.

Image: White epiphyllum flower. Click on the image to enlarge.

We went the Botanic Garden a couple of years ago to a showing of epiphyllum flowering plants and were astounded by the many, many varieties and hybrids. There are virtually all colors of the rainbow. There were hundreds of flowers at the show and all quite beautiful.

This poppy was growing out of a crack in the patio sidewalk of the California house. No kidding! Just before we left here in April, Bob sprayed Roundup® all over the backyard to kill the weeds that grow out there. Somehow, the poppy seeds managed to find the cracks in the sidewalk where this pretty flower is growing today. There are several places where poppies are growing, literally, like weeds, out of the cracks. Click on the image to enlarge.