Blowin' in the Wind....

There's been a lot of talk about Wind Energy, this election season.

Coming down the mountain, into the Palm Springs area last month, 

we got to see a place where they take it quite seriously.  

There are acres and acres of wind turbines.

We saw them all along our trip.

But, this is the most we saw in a populated area.

They range right along I-10, at a 'pass' through the mountains.

The wind really blows here.

I guess we should use all the resources we have for energy.

There are pros and cons for each of them.

I do find these pretty interesting.  

They're like rain lilies after a rain, popping up out of the desert.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Plants at the Golf Course....

Recently, I posted about our trip to the desert,
and Golfing in a Garden.

I thought I'd show you a little of the Flora and Fauna there.

Some, I've not seen before.

This Bougainvillea is one I don't know.

From a distance, I thought it was a Crepe Myrtle.
Very upright....almost like it could be a tree.

But closer, I could see it was a Bougainvillea.
Smaller leaves....

And, clusters of smaller blooms.

Here's the Bougainvillea I'm used to.

And, this bush.  It gets quite large.

That's one, just ahead and to the left of these carts.  I saw some even larger ones.

It has these pretty yellow blooms.
Sorry for the photo.  My camera does NOT like to take pix of yellow flowers.

And, this silver shrub.  I think it's some kind of Sage.  I like it.

 There were lots of nice grasses....

And, the ever present Lantana...

The Palm Springs area uses Lantana a lot.  It's a good hot weather, drought resistant plant.

The landscaping at the villas at the Hyatt Indian Wells, is pretty good, too.

And, there were pink and white water lilies blooming in the water hazards.

With the water, and all those blooming things, there were lots of birds.

This little hummer...I think maybe a Black Chin Hummingbird...posed for me several times.

And, this little red bird took a lot of work to get a shot or two.

I think he's a Flame-colored Western Tanager.

This little guy...a Black Phoebe?...just came right up and posed on the handle of the rake in a sand trap.

And, this American Loon was swimming around with his friends, diving under water for whatever was on the bottom.

view from our balcony

I had a busy day, even though I didn't golf.

If you know the names of those plants I showed you, please let me know.
Hmmm....wonder if deer like them.

*******

The Longhorns have a big game this weekend, up in Dallas.
We play our arch rivals, Oklahoma.

Hook 'em Horns!

*******

Have a great weekend...
~~Linda~~

Another Desert Garden...

We recently were in the Palm Springs area, for an annual golf tournament.

We've been there many times, but this was the first time we visited

Sunnylands.

Sunnylands is the 200 acre desert estate of
Walter and Leonore Annenberg.
Walter Annenberg was a wealthy publisher, from the East Coast.
Both Walter and Leonore were U.S. ambassadors, at one time or another.

They came to the area in the 1960s and purchased 200 acres of this desert land, and created their
Winter Desert Retreat.

across the street from the estate.

The estate includes:
 the main house...described on the website as 'a casual family home'...
25,000 square feet of family home.
a nine-hole golf course,
eleven lakes,
a tennis court,
swimming pools,
a mausoleum, where the Annenbergs are interred.

Several Presidents and many foreign dignitaries, the British Royal Family, and many Hollywood stars, have been visitors to Sunnylands.

The estate is still used for special retreats.

Before her death, in 2009, Mrs. Annenberg set aside 15 acres for a Center and Gardens, for public use.

The Estate and the Center and Gardens opened this year to the public.

This is what we came to see.

view out the front

The 17,000 square foot center is used for meetings, and social events.

The views from inside this almost all glass building, are amazing.

The gardens were designed with the impressionist paintings the Annenbergs collected in mind.

There are 1.5 miles of paths and over 50 species of plants... mostly desert plants.
Lots of cactus and agaves!

I'll just show you some of what we saw.

 gotta have some of these Red Barrel Cacti

To my agave and aloe loving friends out there....this was truly stunning!

Some of the cacti were blooming....

And, I loved the Palo Verde trees...look at that green bark.

The Annenbergs funded a trust, for the upkeep of the Estate.

The Center and Gardens are open to the public free, Thursday through Sunday, most months of the year.

A tour of the main house requires advance reservations and a fee.
We had a tight schedule, so we didn't tour the house.  But, the garden was worth the trip.

If you go, Sunnylands is on Bob Hope Dr., in Rancho Mirage.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~