Tag: botanic garden

Virginia Robinson gardens

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I had the opportunity to visit the first estate established in Beverly Hills, CA, the Virginia Robinson Gardens. The mansion was built in 1911; it was the private residence of Virginia Dryden Robinson and Harry Winchester Robinson, heir to  J. W. Robinson’s Dept. Store. It’s now managed by the County of Los Angeles and is open to the public for docent tours by advanced reservation only.

I was not there for a docent tour, but I took a quick squizz at the portion of the gardens I was in … they are quite lovely, with steep terrain, many varied textures, and quaint fountains.

Paropsis atomaria

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I looked up this beetle when I got home from our nature journal meetup. Turns out, this is one of the most widely distributed eucalyptus leaf beetles in Australia, but it was only discovered in the US (here in Los Angeles) a year ago.

Paropsis atomaria is considered a pest in eucalyptus plantations in Australia and is reported to cause defoliation, decreased growth and wood quality, and sometimes tree death. Both larvae and adults feed on the foliage. Development from egg to adult takes approximately one month and there are up to four generations per year

So this cute little beetle is quite the eucalyptus scourge. I bet there are many California native plant supporters who are not unhappy that it has reached our shores — eucalyptus species themselves being invasive around here.

mildred’s garden

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I visited the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanic Garden today with the Channel Island Nature Journalers. More than half of the 7.5 acre garden is currently closed for construction, but there is still plenty to see, enjoy and, yes, nature journal!

Mildred Esther Mathias (1906 – 1995) was an American botanist, environmentalist, preservationist, and UCLA professor. She studied, classified, and led groups to discover plants all across the world, helping popularize “ecotourism”. in 1979, the UCLA botanical garden (started in 1929) was re-named the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden in her honour. Thank you, Prof Mathias, for all you did!

Quercus tomentella

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I have lived within an hour’s drive of Conejo Valley Botanic Garden for decades. How is it that I never visited until the other day? What a lovely place! What other nearby natural joys am I missing out on?

It was a delight to come upon an unfamiliar, yet local, oak tree, Quercus tomentella. This species is a relict. Though it is now limited to the offshore islands, it was once widespread in mainland California, as evidenced by the many late Tertiary fossils of the species found here. The tree in the gardens is young (planted 1995). All going well, it should grow two and a half times this high. Live long and prosper, Island Oak!