Quail Botanical Gardens

The Quail Botanical Gardens were a welcome change when this northeasterner visited them during a harsh winter back home. The season's snowfall was 16 feet, 4.9 meters. If the snow hadn't partially evaporated or slightly melted periodically before being renewed, I would not be writing this article. They would have found me at some future time, frozen in place. The gardens, in Encinitas California, however, were green. Flowers were in bloom. No snow! A sight for sore eyes and soothing for the soul. Our winters must be broken by a visit to more pleasurable surroundings in order to keep one's sanity during this bleak season. A fire in the hearth also helps. That, when a raging snowstorm outside the window is, well almost, pleasant.

The 30 acres of gardens are divided into illustrations of some 16 different climates in addition to ten demonstration gardens. Kay took a rest in the Canary Islands climate garden while I took some photos of Dragon Trees. This was the closest I have been to the Canaries. Some years ago we were holding airline reservations to Tenerife when the airline informed us that instead of flying directly to the island as originally planned, the schedule was changed to fly past the Canary Islands, land in Madrid, change planes, and then fly back to the island. We canceled. During the time we should have been on an island off the coast of Africa we instead were at Cape Cod, staring east over the sea trying to see the Canaries beyond the horizon. At least we had some very good seafood dinners.

One plant that caught my eye from a shorter distance than over the sea was a Brugmansia cross, "Inca Queen", at the gardens. The lip of the flower was red, blending to cream toward the base. My photograph of it does not come close to doing it justice so I can not share it with you. Two years ago I ordered seeds for two different Brugs from Thompson and Morgan, just before their new catalog was published. I subsequently discovered that the newer catalog had such a red lipped Brug. I put off ordering it until the following year. Correct, it had been dropped from the listings by then. Someday I will learn not to put off current gratification.          Have some more chocolate cake