Sunnylands

We returned last Sunday from Palm Springs and Joshua Tree and hit the ground running. A week later I finally had time to finish downloading pictures from the trip -- although short it was a memorable getaway.
Our Palm Springs friends treated us to a tour of Sunnylands, the vacation home of the Annenberg family from 1967 until 2003. What a delight! I had only a vague idea what it is and had very little time in which to do research so we just showed up at our scheduled time with camera in hand and comfortable shoes. Our tour was made up of only seven tourists.  We tooled all over the grounds in an oversized golf cart that thankfully had a sunshade because it was "Tucson" hot!
The gardens at the visitor center are populated with geometrically arranged cacti, succulents and other desert-friendly plants that seem  to be more common in the Sonoran Arizona Deserts than California but who cares, they are spectacular.
Photographs were only permitted in the gardens and exterior of the A. Quincy Jones-designed house  so you'll have to use your imagination and the Sunnylands website to picture the unbelievably cool interiors by the creators of Hollywood Regency style--William Haines and Ted Graber. The Annenbergs lent Sunnylands for the only State Dinner to be hosted outside the White House and their New Year's Eve parties are legendary. Their massive art collection is now housed in the Philadelphia Museum but excellent copies of the original collection are displayed in the vast, gallery-like rooms at Sunnylands.
Take a look at our garden and exterior pictures and try to imagine the scope (and the water use...ouch) of this huge oasis in Rancho Mirage, California.

The house is surrounded by an enormous expanse of golf course. 

Have a great week!

Joshua Tree

Over the weekend my husband and I traveled to Palm Springs for a birthday party.. more about that later but on the way we spent the night near Joshua Tree National Park. We only had one day but managed to spend some time climbing around on the rocks, driving through the Ocotillo forest and at the end of the day hiked a few dusty and hot but beautiful miles out to the spectacular 49 Palms Oasis. We saw no shortage of Coachella refugees with  inappropriate footwear and questionable drinking options along this somewhat challenging trail. We wondered if they would be among the several hikers that have to be airlifted out of the canyon every year....

 The unique weather conditions this year provided one of the most spectacular Yucca blooms ever. Although we were at the end of the bloom there were still fluffy cream-colored blooms in abundance. The Joshua Tree is not really a tree at all but the result of a yucca plant growing in a climate with unique pattern of freezes that cause the plant to branch out in an unusual manner. 

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Huge ocotillo and desolate but beautiful mountains beyond. 

Giant boulders in the park.

Yuccas in bloom.

Eric leading the way to Fan palms growing in the 49 Palms Oasis.

Looking towards the valley.

Have a great week!

All sorts of seed going on...

This week we had an especially foggy morning.. which only happens once or twice a year as my neighbor and I commented to each other in passing by the traffic circle. I took a few pictures and was especially intrigued with the octopus agave activity nearby.

Octopus agave-- agave vilmoriniana--- grows abundantly around Tucson. I don't often see them growing in the desert, but everyone seems to have one in their yard. Why?... they are very prolific propagators..

Here is one, muscling its way up a tree trunk, long articulate arms curving around its prey...

After several years, they bloom in a spectacular manner--providing ample pollen for the local bee population. 

A year or so later, the stalk breaks off and crashes to the ground.

Thousands of baby plants drop  to the soil and the wind but mostly the neighbors'  willing hands. I pulled a few off and started them in an old planter....Another year and I will move them to the garden. 

They are everywhere!

Spectacular February sights in Tucson

 Last week I had the opportunity to take two "newbies" (as in never been there) to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. My swanky new camera had never been there either and I had a great time taking photos of the birds!

Screech Owl-- she weighs in at less than a pound. 

Female and Male Cardinals... they breed BRIGHT out here....

It is a really good thing we went on Monday-- In shorts and bright sunshine it was a treat for our friends from Montreal. Tuesday evening started with a blizzard warning on my daughter's I phone. The next day we ventured out into a spectacular show: a full on storm in the desert. We haven't seen snow like this in twenty years...global cooling??

Lovely hair "do" on the Santa Rita prickly pear cacti

Have a great weekend!