common heliotrope ~ 10/15/14 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

common heliotrope / cherry pie plant

Heliotropium arborescens (aka Heliotropium peruvianum)

Boraginaceae

Thanks to Nature of a Man, I now have the ID of this fragrant shrub that I've been admiring for years.  Years!  It surprises me that online descriptions say it smells like vanilla or freshly baked cherry pie. Mmm, maybe it has some vanilla notes, but not the fake candle stuff.  I can't say I know from experience what freshly baked cherry pie smells like, and I'm at a loss for words to adequately describe its heavenly scent.  I just know I like it.  I want it for my dream garden.

I double-checked the Cooper Store's index-carded photos, which were made in 1995, and this common heliotrope is not included.  Most of the Garden's plants were apparently installed in 1987-1988 to add to the existing historic roses and fruit trees.  I figure this bush was planted sometime after the cards were made.  My guess is this variety might hail from San Marcos Growers (linked in the scientific name above - they have a good, thorough description) because of its unusually large 6 ft. tall bushy shape.  Most of the common heliotropes I found online are shorter with deep purple flowers and darker leaves.  It's funny how garden plants seem to go in and out of fashion.  I prefer this lighter and airer shrub.  It's a total butterfly, bee, and lazy lepidopterist magnet.

gray hairstreak ~ 10/08/14 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

female gray hairstreak nectaring/mud-puddling on blue passion flower
female Strymon melinus pudica nectaring/mud-puddling on Passiflora caerulea

(Shapiro)

Passifloraceae

edited 10/29/14 - Honestly, I don't know how to label this activity.  Nectaring or mud-puddling? Drinking?  Her proboscis is obviously extended and in use on the flower in the first photo, but that's not where the nectar is located on the passion flower.  And, it's commonly reported that only males engage in mud-puddling to produce a nuptial gift (except female CA sisters).  Btw, mud-puddling is not limited to mud puddles.  Butterflies can get nutrients from sweat and poo, too, basically any moisture with salts and amino acids.  No kidding, hence why I've been preoccupied with poo, lately.  I have yet to witness this activity in person, and I'd love to.  I believe any moisture with sugars, even fruits and sap, constitutes nectaring.  I could be wrong; definitions seems so arbitrary sometimes.  Is the sepal sweet or salty?  Oh, to be a butterfly and taste with your feet!  I know she's a female, because her abdomen top is gray; males are orange. 

As a side note, Butterflies of Orange County states the females have "reddish" abdomens.  This is incorrect.  Other than a handful of errors to keep an eye on, UC Irvine's site is a relatively decent local resource for butterflies, of which there are not that many good ones that don't just steal information from printed books.

west coast lady ~ 10/01/14 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

west coast lady nectaring on common heliotrope

Vanessa annabella nectaring on Heliotropium arborescens
(Shapiro)

Boraginaceae

I've seen a fair number of west coast ladies this unusually warm coastal summer, but only here in town since I'm rarely out in the field late enough in the afternoon to see these beauties.  When I decided to pursue studying butterflies this year, Andy made a request early on that I be home for dinner if at all possible.  Eating dinner together is important to us, and he used to bring me take-out when I worked late at the office.  The nice thing now is he doesn't mind cooking if I'm too pooped out from a day of hiking.  It may seem old-fashioned, but it works for us.

Usually, I'll spot the west coast ladies swirling-flirting with their more numerous and bossy cousins, the red admirals, around tall west-facing backdrops, be it trees or buildings.  This particular spot in the Cooper Molera Garden is great for seeing all kinds of butterflies because of the south-sided warmth of the surrounding historic buildings and this pleasantly scented garden bush.  The flowers look to me like a cross between heliotropes and fiddlenecks, but the soft leaves and huge bushy shape throw me.  The volunteer-run Cooper Store has several handfuls of index-carded photos of the plants in the garden with their IDs.  The next time I'm in, I'll try to remember to look-up this garden plant.

ps 10/15/14 - Thanks to Ken's comments, I now have an ID and corrected the above.

cedar waxwing ~ 01/06/14 ~ Casa del Oro Garden

cedar waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorum

I love the look of waxwings.  They'd make a great model for an avian masked comic-book hero.  I've been keeping my eye out for them this winter and have spotted them 4 times since November.  It appears this group likes to sun themselves on a couple tall sycamore trees along the Casa del Oro Garden.  If you weren't paying attention to their chattery flock calls, they'd be easy to miss from a distance because they look a lot like dried leaves that haven't fallen off the tree.  I had to laugh when an Historic Garden League volunteer grumpily pointed out how much their seedy poop makes a mess on the sidewalk below, especially since I was just thrilled to be lucky enough to see them.  The flock is easily frightened to flight even with a horn honk.  It was somehow reassuring to read from several sources that cedar waxwings look a lot like starlings in flight, because that was my first thought when I saw them flow around in the air as a group.  I'm going to keep my eye on nearby toyon and pyracantha shrubs in the coming months.  The berries are plump and red but still untouched.  Maybe they're not ripe enough for the waxwings?

wordless Wednesday

habitat ~ 11/25/13 ~ Stevenson Garden

Stevenson Garden
November 25, 2013

posted 11/28/13 - Whenever tourists stop me to ask what they can do in downtown Monterey, I always mention the Secret Gardens of Old Monterey.  The historic building tours cost maybe $3, but the gardens are free to enjoy.  As part of my daily walks, I visit several regularly.  I don't think very many people know they exist, because I rarely see anyone else in them.  Plus, they really are kind of secret and often hidden behind high fences.  The Stevenson House Garden has become my favorite out of all the Secret Gardens.  No matter what season it is, Vilhelm, a State Parks Gardener in charge of Stevenson, makes sure there's color.  Right now the Liquidambar sp. is in brilliant red display (I'm surprised it's spelled 'ambar', not 'amber').  I'm not absolutely positive about its ID since it's cultivated, but I'm guessing it's American sweetgum (L. styracifula), which has also naturalized in a few parts of CA.  I am very thankful for these beautiful public gardens.  Wishing all my American blog readers a happy Thanksgiving!

habitat ~ 03/03/12 ~ Monterey City

garden flax
Linum grandiflorum
Linaceae
(ID thanks to Neil of microecos and Oryctology)

This is going to be an unusual post for Nature ID. The numerous photos and unidentified garden flowers are not what I prefer for my blog. However, I want to show why I love living here in Pacific Grove, an easily walkable 2 miles to downtown Monterey along the Monterey Bay Rec Trail. I thoroughly enjoy the beautiful historical Secret Gardens in Monterey. It was gloriously warm weather this first weekend of March (70-80°F/22-27°C) from downtown Monterey, to Jacks Peak, to Del Monte Forest (posts forthcoming). If you can help me ID some of the blooms, I'd greatly appreciate it!

grape hyacinth
Muscari sp.
Asparagaceae
(Darn crappy photos from the point-and-shoot!)

hyacinth
Hyacinthus sp.
Asparagaceae

(Sadly, it took me until 03/09/12 farmers' market to recall that this is a white version of the dark blue/purple version that looks like a solid column of flowers. The Greek mythology of Hyacinthus and Apollo is tragic.)

Larkin House gardens

This is the epitome of what I consider a secret garden, like that book by Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett. There seems to be blooms here of some sort all year-round.

Japanese andromeda
Pieris japonica
Ericaceae
(ID thanks to Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard)

Can you ID?

Technically these are not part of the State Park historical secret gardens, but they're part of Monterey City's Colton Hall historical landmark, which is just across the street from the Larkin House. The flowers in the garden are showy, but I don't know if they're native plantings or not.

Norfolk island pine
Araucaria heterophylla
Araucariaceae

euphorbia
Euphorbia martinii
Euphorbiaceae
(ID thanks to Megan of Far Out Flora)

Monterey Institute of International Studies
Our Green Thumb Project

I've somehow watched the progress of this abandoned lot that was filled with weeds several years ago to being turned into something very useful and valuable for the students. I love it. Andy particularly liked trying out their two swings in the back of the lot near the compost bins.

spring starflower
Ipheion uniflorumAmaryllidaceae
(ID thanks to Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard)

Casa Soberanes garden

almond blossom ~ 02/04/12 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

almond blossom

Prunus dulcis

Rosaceae

Given my total confusion about early blooming blossoms (is it a cherry, or plum, or cherry plum?), I had no difficulty identifying this particular blossom tree. Why? Because there was a handy-dandy ID sign at the Cooper Molera Garden, which is filled with various fruit trees restored or representative of the 1860s. Really, I should be able to recognize this tree anyways, since I spent many CA winters playing underneath 2 almond trees that my dad planted next to my swing set. I used to pretend the white fallen petals were snow. Aw, fond memories!

I liked harvesting almonds with their split fuzzy hull and especially liked eating them. So, it came as a bit of surprise that I haven't liked almonds purchased at the store for a while, and I couldn't figure out why. Then, a friend recently gave me almonds from his dad's farm. They taste fresh like how I remember from when I was a kid. He said they're unpasteurized. As I was researching this post, I learned that there's now a mandatory pasteurization program for CA almonds shipped in North America. Who knew? Like with fresh apple cider, I do think some foods do taste better unpasteurized.

about festivals and traditions

Festa Italia bocce tournament

Custom House Plaza, Monterey, CA

In the past many weeks, we attended the Turkish Arts & Culture Festival (Jul 31 - Aug 1), Congregation Beth Israel's Jewish Food Festival (Aug 29), Monterey County Fair (Sept 1-6), Monterey Bay Greek Festival (Sept 4-6), and Festa Italia (Sept 10-12)... and not to mention a family reunion in Fresno, CA.

Apologies, checking links and will finish writing later. To be continued...

ps 09/14/10 - I had thoughts to write about why I love cultural festivals and to relegate stories of my first generation grandparents (Norwegian, German, Armenian, French), while I hail from Korea. Am I in the proverbial melting pot or a chopped salad? Writing about this felt like it was becoming a dissertation, so I'll leave well enough alone.

lilac fuchsia ~ 05/29/10 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

lilac fuchsia
Fuchsia arborescens
Onagraceae

Lilac fuchsias are blooming everywhere around town right now. I can't recall ever seeing this flower out in the wild. Apparently, it's very popular in local gardens and originates from Central America.

These pictures were taken at the Cooper Molera Adobe, part of the Monterey State Historic Park Secret Gardens. It reminds me of one of my favorite childhood books The Secret Garden, since most of the historic gardens are hidden behind tall adobe and brick garden walls. In fact, on the other side of the wall in the last pic is a packed parking lot for Trader Joe's and Pete's Coffee; I doubt most of the patrons even know of the existence of this garden. Last year Cooper volunteers moved their chickens and a lonely sheep to other state parks out of the area in preparation for budget cuts. I'm not entirely sure what happened with all the threats to close significant portions of the CA State Parks, but it looks like even the Pacific House museum was open this weekend.

ps 06/04/10 - I lied! Right below home on the Rec Trail, there are several garden escapees next to the storm drain. Have I mentioned this is blooming everywhere?

does anyone know about parkour?

Monterey Custom House Plaza, CA
May 22, 2010

This is what I like...
District B13 - David Belle chase scene
Kat - 2008 - Female Parkour

For the longest time we couldn't figure out this sign on the plaza walls. It's poorly written. Then, my hubby found a G4 Ninja Warrior try-out vid from these same walls. The guy was good, but I can't find him online anymore.

Like my mom always insisted, get outside!  Although, she preferred for us not to be bleeding, or covered head to toe in mud, or holding a bucket full of stinky crawdads to boil, or... well, you get my drift.

ps 06/23/10 - Continuing with this post, I get a good laugh at the odd looks I see from people while out and about during my early morning "walks" in addition to exclamations of "Holy ****, how'd you do that!?!" Here's another YouTube video that inspires me: click here.

pss 06/25/10 - For some reason, I've been getting more comments lately from complete strangers who see me. Today I met an exuberant mom with her two young children on the summer trolley. She said they spotted me earlier and thought I looked like I was having so much fun jumping around and that she wished she had as much energy so early in the morning... Um, hello? Don't have kids! Well, I didn't know quite how to respond in a nice way, so I thanked her and started a conversation on what she and her family planned to do while they were in town during her husband's business conference. Another couple sat on my favorite hopping rocks while I was passing through. I told them to not move as I jumped around them. I again laughed as their exclamations of "Huh? Whoa! Did she just do that?" faded away.

I dunno, maybe in my own mind I'm better than I really am, but it's kinda fun to hear these things. Mainly for me, it's all about finding my own inner balance. Many days I'm off kilter and take it slow. Other days, I feel entirely comfortable in my own body and the space around me and just go for it. It's a great feeling when that happens.

ps 01/07/15 - Love, love these: Iranian girls do parkour in Tehran and Assassin's Creed Unity meets parkour in real life.

magnolia tree in Memory Garden
Magnoliaceae

Finally some bright green to go with the flowers. It's the pink/purple with the bright green that makes me love this particular tree. There are 2 other magnolia trees in this garden, but they have white blooms and seem to keep their leathery leaves all year long.

I've been labeling this as a non-native, but I should probably look into it to see if that's true.

magnolia tree in Memory Garden
Magnoliaceae

I can't believe it's been a whole month since the first flower to this. I always thought the blooms were quicker than this.

magnolia ~ 01/24/10 ~ Memory Garden

magnolia tree in Memory Garden
Magnoliaceae

This is the first magnolia flower of the year from my favorite tree in the Memory Garden.

ps 11/26/13 - This past month I noticed a couple blooms on this tree.  I thought it might be confused with the different weather we're having.  When I visited Pete in Berkeley, this same type of magnolia was in full bloom and leafing out.  He claims it always blooms twice a year.  I'll have to pay attention to that in the future.  This tree definitely goes in my dream garden.

magnolia tree in Memory Garden
Magnoliaceae

I love this tree and visit it every spring! It's located in the Memory Garden behind the Pacific House.

ps 09/09/09 - I've heard rumors (and read paper publishings) that the Pacific House was to be closed September 1, 2009 due to the state budget cuts. However, it remained open over the holiday weekend, as witnessed September 6th. I hope it does stay running, as this courtyard garden is my favorite!

pss 04/11/10 - As far as we know this garden is still opened daily and is still being used for weddings, but the little museum in the Pacific House is closed. Sad.

queen's tears
Billbergia nutans
Bromeliaceae

The navy striping on the bracts is spectacular! This was at the Larkin House Garden in Monterey. The flower was also at the Carmel Valley Garden show on May 17, 2009, but my pic didn't read the details of the ID card. Phooey!

And, yes, I have a genetically short pinky finger. If I remember correctly, it's on X-some 16 or something like that.

ps 10/03/10 - I originally posted this as "Have no clue!" Thanks to gardentropics post, I finally obtained an ID for this plant. I would have never guessed it is a bromeliad.

wisteria ~ 03/29/09 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

Wisteria sp.
Fabaceae

I absolutely love wisteria! This was at the Cooper Molera Garden. I hope to someday have wisteria in a garden of my own.