White Blossoms of the Evergreen Pear (Pyrus Kawakaimii)
Santa Barbara is awash with white blooms, the early spring explosions of the evergreen pear.
Read moreSanta Barbara Meanderings
A Spring Without Winter
A winter without rain. Drought is a word that clutches at the heart. In many places, 2013 was the driest on record. Less than an inch fell in Dec...
Read moreWalk on the Wild Side: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Looking up at the stony face of the Santa Ynez Mountains, one sometimes gets the impression that the mountains are impenetrable. But studying a goo...
Read moreSycamore Trees in Santa Barbara
October arrives subtly in Santa Barbara with the soft golds of our native sycamores (Platanus racemosa). How to describe this tree that most often...
Read moreJacarandas in Santa Barbara: Purple Bells of June
As the I Madonnari festival nears and the city fills to the brim this Memorial Day weekend, Santa Barbara's glorious jacarandas are bursting into b...
Read moreCalifornia Poppy: The Spring Trumpet
What better way to announce the spring wildflower season than with the golden poppy. They seem to appear everywhere – out of cracks in the pavemen...
Read moreCeanothus of Santa Barbara: Early spring blossoms
If you've looked up at the mountains from town lately, you may have noticed what looks like a light snowfall. How can that be? Every spring, the ...
Read moreAcacias: Santa Barbara's Yellow Trees
Just when the short, dark days of January begin to drag down your spirits, acacias announce that spring is coming. They burst into bloom, illuminat...
Read moreToyon: California's Christmas Berry
Glowing red berries ripening around Thanksgiving, bouquets of tiny white flowers loved by the bees in the spring, Toyon grows naturally almost eve...
Read moreBOUGAINVILLEA!
Bougainvillea is not a name you should say softly. Any plant with flowers as garish, brilliant, fluorescent, strident – the adjectives go on and o...
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