Early Springtime in Los Angeles

It rained more than years past this winter in Southern California, which means landscape is greener and flowers more abundant this spring. I also discovered two new places to see some flowers in bloom this year.
First up is my favorite place to see the plants, at Los Angeles Arboretum. The view from above the waterfall within the garden is filled with varying shades of greens, golds, and occasional pinks.

I was chatting with my fellow L.A. correspondent at Peacock Cafe in the Arboretum before we set out to sketch, and I captured the namesake bird posing in front of blooming pink tabebuia tree.

I also had a good fortune to see world's largest blooming plant, which is a Chinese wisteria that has been growing in a private garden in Sierra Madre since 1894. It is recorded on Guinness Book of World Records, and named one of the Seven Horticultural Wonders of the World. There is Sierra Madre Wisteria Festival centered around the once-a-year public viewing of this plant, and an accordion player was entertaining the crowd that gathered to see the lavender-colored flowers. I could only capture just a small part of the entire canopy of vines that spans more than one acre in size - the vine next to the musician is only one of many that roots to the ground. A kind passerby "caught me in the wild" sketching.

And springtime means tax time...on the way back from my accountant, I saw curious rock formations, so I did a little search and stopped by; I'm glad I discovered Stoney Point Park in Chatsworth. The huge boulders are straight out of Wild West movies, and it's incredible to learn that a piece of natural formation that is so massive exists within city limits of Los Angeles. There were patches of yellow mustard flowers in the foreground, and I saw a few people trying to climb on the rock face as the moon started to rise while daylight lingered on longer than just a week or two ago...spring is indeed here. Happy Spring Equinox!