Will This Be the Last Fall Color Blast?

Winds of 60 to 70 miles per hour are predicted tonight for the L.A. Basin and outlying areas; will these winds visit the normally wind-sheltered area underneath the San Gabriel mountains where the L.A. County Arboretum & Botanic Garden is located? Stay tuned...until then here are some pictures I took just today and yesterday; they may be the last pictures of fall color here before the wind blows all the leaves off of the trees.  BTW, check out the huge flowering Dahlia imperialis located in the Garden for All Seasons
11/30/2011

11/29/2009


For more on Fall color around the state, check out http://www.californiafallcolor.com

More Fall Color Shots

Out and about on the grounds and the show goes on; the Fall color is still amazing!

By The L.A. River

Went down to the river today to look at plants for a filmmaker/artist doing a piece on the origins of the plants that find there way into the river bed and found some interesting stuff. One of the more interesting sights were a group of egg-like mushrooms growing in a sandbar right there in the river. I took them back to the office and identified them as Phallus impudicus, the Stinkhorn mushroom. This mushroom usually grows on under-composted wood mulch but here it was growing on the roots of a recently killed Arundo donax plants. Here's a video of Phallus impudicus fruiting in time-lapse. ( Warning: Not for the Faint of Heart or Easily Disgusted ).   

I'll go over some of the other interesting stuff in my next post.

Another Fall Color Report

More Fall Color

For kids with ADHD, regular 'green time' is linked to milder symptoms

For kids with ADHD, regular 'green time' is linked to milder symptoms

If you've ever noticed your kids seem to behave better when you take them to the Arboretum, well here's a scientific study that backs you up!

Fall Color Report 11/12/2011

Album with map locations here: https://picasaweb.google.com/botaknee/FallColorReport11122011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

More Fall Color

Arboretum Fall Color 11-9-2011

This album includes a map that shows the locations of the subject trees.

Looks Like Fall Color is Ramping Up

I was out on the grounds this last Sunday and the Fall color is starting to look good. Keep your fingers crossed that we don't have any hot, windy Santa Ana winds or heavy, driving rain. Here's some of the pix I took while I was out on the grounds:

Plants that Peacocks Pass

Every two months here in peacock graced (or infested depending on your opinion ) Arcadia I get inquiries about what plants they will not eat. First off, peacocks will dig up newly planted small container plants just to get at the grubs and insects that the newly transplanted plant's injured roots attract; second peacocks like the new foliage of plants they may not necessarily feed on once the foliage has matures. The best thing to do with flowers is to establish them in area that has been surrounded by bird netting. If you can't do that then try using a motion detecting scarecrow to do the job; but be careful, I once almost gave a UPS delivery man a heart attack when my motion detecting scarecrow went off without warning and scared the daylights out of him.
Here is a list that has been compiled over time here at the Arboretum of plants that are resistant to peacocks.
Agapanthus
Azalea
Baby’s Breath
Bee Balm
Bird of Paradise
Blazing Star Liatris
Bougainvillea
Butterfly Plant
Cactus
Camellia
Cannas
Clivia
Columbine
Coneflower
Ferns
Fuchsia
Gaillardia
Gardenia
Geranium
Giant Columbine
Gladiola
Gloriosa Daisy
Hen & Chicken
Hibiscus
Hardy Lavender
Hostas
Iceland Poppies
Iris
Ivy
Lantana
Lavender
Marigold
Mint
Mum
Oleander
Painted Daisy
Periwinkle
Peonies
Phlox
Pink Lady
Plumbago
Poinsettia
Pyracantha
Rhododendron
Rose
Shasta Daisy
Snap Dragon
Sunburst Coreopsis
Weigela

Super Soperific Sapote

A volunteer brought in a green fruit he found on the grounds today and wanted to know what it was; turns out it's citrus family member white sapote, Casimiroa edulis. I did a little research on the fruit and found that it's considered soporific, in other words, a sedative; surprisingly one of the ingredients responsible for this effect is a compound that mimics histamine, the chemical messenger that tells our body to swell up in response to bee stings and pollen.


California Rare Fruit Grower's white sapote page :

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/whitesapote.html

Purdue Horticulture Department's white sapote page:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/white_sapote.html