It was a beautiful day in Sacramento, California. Took a trip to the zoo and caught some great photos of bamboo and other interesting plants (as usual, a big plant geek, I paid little attention to the animals). The first two pictures are of a Monkey Puzzle Tree. The next picture is of a blooming Camelia bush. The last three are of bamboo, the tall ones being "Japanese Giant Timber Bamboo" and the last a very interesting culm of what I think is phylostachys aurea "Holychrysa."Enjoy!
Sean
Love the monkey puzzler....I have one here but it is only half the size of the one in your photo. Love your bamboo shots, I have it all over my garden, it is so useful as a screen. Its also great just to see those beautiful stems with the foliage taken away.
ReplyDeleteThe closest I can get to a Monkey Puzzle is my Norfolk Island Pine--indoors!--though on the south shore of the province, a nursery operator is pushing the zones and growing a small Monkey Puzzle outdoors. It's a bit warmer in winter where he is, though! Nice post--I could feel the sun and warmth even though we're currently having a monsoon of rain, turning everything to ice. What a winter!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you should have a monkey puzzle tree on your blog. I didn't know they existed until I went to the plant conservatory ... and they had one there. It wasn't quite as tall as this one. I almost stabbed myself on it when I was trying to photograph some orchids.
ReplyDeleteThe bamboo stems are gorgeous ... no wonder people love growing them and painting them (pictures of them, I mean).
All - The Monkey Puzzle Tree was a treat for sure, it stood about 6 - 7 feet tall, glad everyone enjoyed the photos.
ReplyDeleteSean
Love the shot of the youthful Monkey Puzzle tree. We have some huge ones here in Santa Barbara, but I've never seen them starting out. With humans, we're cutest in the early years, then after a couple of decades it's downhill. Looks like this Araucaria has the right idea!
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