Flowers and Critters at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens

     Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens
     “California’s Native Garden”
     In Claremont, 35 miles -or so- east of downtown Los Angeles.

     This place is one huge garden. Like the one your grandma has out back, but bigger, infinitely bigger.
     Give yourself a couple hours -at least- to wander about all the meandering trails.
     I really know nothing about plants, other than what I remember from high school, which is well, almost nothing.
     But they are pretty.
     And different times of the year different plants are pretty for different reasons. I visited in spring, for the wild flowers.
     Other than it being beautiful, this garden is special for one particular reason, all the plants are native to California. Or as the sign says:
     “The Plants on display are native species or cultivated forms developed from them. A few are ancient components of California flora or close relatives of our native species.”
     [Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Link]

    Enjoy the photographs.


Wyethia elata: Hall’s mule ears, Hall’s wyethia


Trachemys scripta elegans: Red-eared Slider


Libellula saturata: Flame Skimmer


This is a pine tree, and the red cones are Male Pine Cones, not sure exactly which species.


Danaus plexippus: Monarch butterfly


Unknown Butterfly [The Queen?]


Big Bugs [link]


Dendromecon rigida: also called bush poppy or tree poppy


Fallugia paradoxa: Apache Plume


Romneya coulteri: Coulter’s Matilija Poppy


Eschscholzia californica: California Poppy

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2 Responses to Flowers and Critters at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens

  1. Ron Strwlwcki says:

    I find it a little hard to believe that there is a flower named “Romney Coulter.”

    These are just beautiful. Did you use a macro lens? A tripod?

  2. I didn’t even notice the name, does that mean he chose the wrong running mate?
    It was a beautiful sunny day, so I just set my 70-200 at 2.8 and wandered around clicking, no tripod needed.
    I am happy you like them.

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