Hunting for Flowers at the LA Arboretum

After my recent garden experience with native California plants, I felt the need for some flowers so I headed over to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia.  I wasn’t there to see the famous peacocks.  I was there on a mission to find some pretty flowers.  It was as simple as that.

The Arboretum is a large garden (127-acres) divided into sections such as the Australia or Africa zones.  It takes about three hours to walk around the entire complex of multiple gardens.  The roads are paved and the walking is easy.  And there are many spots where you can take a shortcut to another area.

You can see the San Gabriel Mountains in the background. And there is also a bench there in the center of the image.  There are a lot of benches in the Arboretum.  What better way to explore, relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of such beautiful place!

There was an abundance of flowers blooming and I had trouble deciding which to focus on.  Some were so tiny I nearly missed them.  This little blue flower was only about an inch in diameter and I was looking ahead of me as I walked.  It was a lucky moment that caused me to look down at my feet.

As you can tell, I’m no botanist.  I can read those signs posted with the names of the plants, but I often have trouble if there are two or three things growing in the same spot.  To which does the sign refer?  So for now, the above is just a perky (and tiny) purple or blue flower.  But I loved its delicate petals!

I confess I did get caught up with the Silk Floss trees.  There weren’t many leaves or flowers left on the the branches, and most of  those were very high up!  Still the flowers were lovely and I just kept trying to get a shot.

The morning was well spent.  I saw plants and flowers with so many unusual colors and textures.  Some were familiar types like roses or iris but others were either very tiny or rather oddly shaped.  One which pleased me was this small grouping of pink buds offset by a lovely background of green and red leaves.

Once again I have no idea what this is, but how soft and pleasant the color.  The leaves look almost like grape leaves yet the flower buds remind me of geraniums.  On my next visit to the LA Arboretum I will consider a guided tour.  I begin to think I need a docent.