
As Brent mentioned when he sent me this picture, which was included with my ‘Six on Saturday’ post earlier this morning, “There’s a lot going on in the picture.”
Slightly above the exact center of the picture, to the left of the tip of the kitty’s right ear, a Mexican fan palm peeks through a small void in the vegetation. It is at the curb of a home on the west side of the next street to the east. It is what Brent would have taken a picture of if he had zoomed in as intended. It leans to the right and south, as tall Mexican fan palms do there in response the the Santa Ana Winds.
The foliage of the queen palm above and to the left demonstrates that the Santa Ana Winds were blowing when the picture was taken.
The trunk that extends upward through another smaller void in the vegetation below the queen palm foliage is of another Mexican fan palm at the curb in front of Brent’s Jungalow. It is in alignment with the other Mexican fan palm to the east. Its canopy is obscured by that of the queen palm.
The foliage above and to the right of the primary Mexican fan palm, but below and to the right of the queen palm, is pink trumpet tree, which blooms spectacularly bright pink for spring.
The defoliated thicket of stems below and to the left of the primary Mexican fan palm is a large plumeria, which Brent, while very young, acquired from an elderly neighbor. He got it at about the same age that I was when I acquired my Dalmatian iris and rhubarb. More than a dozen other plumeria grow and bloom in a row that extends parallel to the walkway, in front of and behind the large specimen that is visible.
The somewhat yellowish foliage below and to the left of the plumeria is an impressively large Mexican lime that is somehow productive within all that shade.
The strange foliage that hangs outwardly from a dark central mass above and to the left of the Mexican lime, and left of the queen palm is a large colony of staghorn fern that is much closer to the window. Some sort of weird begonia foliage is below and to the left of it. California sycamore foliage is above it.
The top of a tall Indian laurel hedge is visible to the upper right of the picture. Some sort of odd dracaena and odd fern are visible to the lower left corner. Much but not all of the remaining vegetation is a mixture of understory palms, including various bamboo palms, Raphis palms and kentia palms. The spiral stairs lead to an upper deck, which has a splendid view of the rest of the garden that extends to the left, beyond the view of this picture. Finally, on the spiral stairs, is this kitty.
I just adore this photo–cute cat and everything. It’s just the tropical escape that I need as we prepare for the biggest winter storm that we have had in a few years. Ah, life in the frozen north….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Technically, the climate there is merely subtropical. That tropical style is popular though, because it is contrary to all the urban development there. My sort of utilitarian garden style would not obscure the surroundings so efficiently. This tropical landscape obscures the adjacent homes and surrounding city. There is another home just a few feet to the right of the Indian Laurel hedge. With so much lush foliage, as well as the sound of a few fountains, you would never know that this garden is about a block north of the Santa Monica Freeway. This is why I camp out in the garden there when I go to the region.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t believe I missed the kitty at first glance — and the red chair. I was so taken with the plants it took a second and third look to finally register everything.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that red chair is, . . . well, red. Brent is much more stylish than I am. That is why he is a landscape designer. I do not try to get it.
LikeLiked by 1 person