We went to visit Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden a few weeks back. It was still too early to see all the tulips in full bloom.

The tulip garden was named in honor of the once queen of the Netherlands. For the Dutch, tulips became a symbol of peace and reconciliation.

Nice pastel tulip color.

Pink Icelandic poppies.

A view of Golden Gate bridge. It’s to be noted that Golden Gate bridge will no longer have real people collecting toll now. It’s going to be all-electronic tolling by end of March. Drivers who don’t have FasTrak can pay a one-time fee at a kiosk before or after the toll plaza. Or they can pay by mail after a camera photographs the license plate and sends a bill to the registered address.

And here is more info about Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden as noted by S.F. Parks & Rec:

“The Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden, planted just below the Dutch Windmill, features thousands of tulips interspersed with Icelandic poppies, which burst into glorious flower in March and April.”

Address:
John F Kennedy Dr & Great Hwy , S.F., CA

I just found out that Huell Howser, host of “California’s Gold” passed away last Sunday. His presence on PBS will be missed by his viewers.

Howser’s Production company mentions that “California’s Gold” is one of the longest running series about California ever produced. The success and popularity of the show helped to launch six additional series about life in California, including “Road Trip with Huell Howser, and “California’s Golden Parks”.

Huell Howser would go around to visit historical places, visit small family farms and business, state parks and other wonders found only in California. And every place he visited brought him much enthusiasm and joy. His style of hosting the show was very simple and genuine.

This is one of my favorite scene of a visit to avocado farm in southern California… and the avocado eating dog. And Heull said “their dog has the shiniest healthiest looking coat!”. That I know is from all the Vitamin E from the avocado.

Hopefully PBS continues to play his shows for future generations to enjoy and learn more about California’s Gold.

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This isn’t exactly new music. But new to me because I just discovered it. Mat has been writing songs and singing for some time now.

City of Black and White - This music, when listening in the middle of winter, makes a person reminisce for simpler times.

Sooner or Later - And this music is to remind us that things will get better. Mat’s songs are really good - his will be worth getting for the new year.

2012 was one of those years for me… with some memories I’d like to forget and others I will always cherish. I wish everyone a year full of peace, prosperity, and good health. - CN

Just wanted to share this photo of the friendly turtle living in the pond from the S.F. Conservatory of Flowers.

The red ear slider appear to be sleeping. Then it heard us talking and stretched it’s neck out to see what’s happening. Looks like a friendly turtle to me.

The red ear sliders are the most popular pet turtle in the United States. Once a native only to southern U.S., it has spread to other parts of the country due to pet releases. In California it is consider to be an invasive creature as it out competes the native western pond turtle.

This is a very short (30 seconds) video clip of the pond room at the S.F. conservatory. Towards the end of the video you’ll notice the giant fans. The place was very warm.

Here is the last set of photos from the SF Conservatory of Flowers. Most of these plants were found in the Aquatic room with a lily pond.

These were in bloom. The Plumeria or , or in Lao called Dok Champa.

Aquatic pond provides a view of the bottom part of the pond.

There were lots of interesting looking orchids. I’m not sure what are the official names, but these look like pitchers. Note: They are pitcher plants! The ‘Nepenthes’

Another exotic looking orchid. They almost look like seahorse.

An orchids with long petals.

More orchids.

Another interesting plant with curly leaves.   Sometimes I peel my oranges like this just so the skin would curl.

Some kind of plant that resembles a turtle!

Aquatic pond.

And these must be taro plants.

If you love plants and plan on being in SF, please check out the conservatory. It’s well worth it!

It’s been a while since I’ve been back to the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park. Not much has changed but it was still a nice visit.

The Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse and botanical garden that contains a collection of rare plants. Design influence of Victorian architecture and built in 1878, it is the oldest wood and glass conservatory in North America.

On this particular summer day, the weather in S.F. was very chilly. The fog was hanging and the ocean breeze was strong. So imagine coming from the cold outside air into the humid and hot greenhouse.

Upon entering the potted plants room you are welcomed by this decorative statue. Reminds me of French gardens.

I have to mention it felt really small and cramp in the Conservatory. Especially on days when there are many visitors too. And this fruiting banana tree was very popular with everyone wanting a photo of it or with it.

Rare flowering plants such as this desert rose are potted in a simple terracotta pot. Other orchids and flowers were also planted in decorative urns and containers.

These would make great houseplants.

As noted by the Conservatory, “These containers include a historic urn from San Francisco’s 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, an assortment of beautiful copper containers with parrot-shaped handles from Karnataka, India, tall and slender Javanese palm pots, hand-incised ceramic pots from Burkina Faso and many, many more.”

Flowering potted tropical plant.

Fancy flowers!

If you enter from the side you’ll be greeted by colorful garden of Dahlias.

My favorite part of the Conservatory is always the aquatic plants, which I will post the photos later.

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day. And I took my mom to the Lao Wat (temple) in Ceres, California. It’s located just outside of Modesto, California.  Once a year Buddhist monks from around the country meet for the annual meditation and retreat.

The drive to central California is a little scenic if you like farmland. The temple ground was once a cherry orchard turned Buddhist temple.  The surrounding areas include peach and almond orchards.  California is one of the largest growers of almonds.

I like how peaceful this area was because it was under the shade of the mulberry trees.  People left water and rice balls on the alter.

On the other side of the temple area was this reclining Buddha, or the Tuesday Buddha.  This would be my favorite since it’s also my birthday of the week.

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During the time I lived in southern California I can’t believe I never visited Lotusland. But of course at that time in my life, botanical gardens were probably not on top of my list.

Priorities change, so next time I’m in southern California, I will have to make a reservation to visit Lotusland.

Because Lotusland is a public garden operating in a private, residential neighborhood, advance reservations are required.

Lotusland is located in Montecito, just east of Santa Barbara.

It sits in a 37-acre estate that used to belong to Madame Ganna Wakska. Her life story in itself is very interesting. You can read more about it here.

Madame Wakska resided at the esate from 1941 to 1984. She did not have any children and before her death, her estate was  established as the non-profit Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation.

The photo of the lily pods are one of my favorite photo from via Flickr.

If you love lotus, the best time to visit would be in June when they are in full bloom.

Many people who have visited this place gave it great reviews. One reviewer described the garden as romantic and flamboyant. Probably much like Madame Ganna Wakska herself.

If you live near the area, it would be worth it to get the membership and visit as often as you like. No need to be part of the “guided 2 hour” tour.

For the rest of us, check out for some great photos of the place.

To make a tour reservation call or email . Visits are by appointment only.

Check out the shells along the edges.  And the waterfall is so neat.  Photo by Karl Gercens.

The garden is divided into these garden groups.  I’ve made a partial list here:

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Golden Gate park has many attractions for garden and nature lovers. The Japanese Tea Garden is also located just across from the botanical garden. And not far is the Conservatory of Flowers. For family fun, there is the Academy of Science.

This time around I only made it to the botanical garden. And here are more photos. So let’s continue with our garden walk.

One of the Magnolia tulip trees that was in bloom.

Huge azaleas tree with bright pink flowers.

There is a shady part of the forest which includes this lush and green area fill with ferns and fiddleheads.

I love seeing moss grow on rocks. Also love ferns too.

Silk tassle bush. Not quite in bloom yet. I wrote about it earlier.

Pretty and simple pink flowers.

Just outside the garden is this pasture of free range buffaloes.

By the time we got to the windmill it was almost sunset. This is the Queen Wilhelmina Garden. The garden was dedicated in 1962 in honor of the queen of the Netherlands. Every spring it’s fill with tulips. This year I didn’t catch the bloom in time. But they did replace it with colorful poppies.

We now end our walk and drive towards the Pacific Ocean for a sunset. No photos but it was nice and very chilly.

Spring is the best time to visit S.F. Botanical Garden. Lots of camellia, azaleas, rhododendrons, and tulip trees were in full bloom.

And here are some flowers I found along the walking trail.

Proteacea or commonly known as Australian bush flower.  These were grown in the South African garden area.

The Proteaceae family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species.  The flower remind me of artichoke.

Simple and small purple violet wild flowers. These were also seen growing outside the park too.  The background is a fallen redwood tree trunk.

These white flowers (peonies) were huge and the plant itself was at least 5 feet tall.  The petals look like crepe white paper.

Purple lilac tree gave off a lovely scent.

This garden is perfect for spending the day outdoor.  With plenty of friendly squirrels and birds to keep you company.

The map can be seen here.  They are working on a South East Asian Cloud forest too. I wonder what type of tropical plants they will have growing there.  

The park used to offer free admissions, but now it’s only free for S.F. residents.  Ticket price is $7 per person.

At least Golden Gate Park is still free to the public. And there are plenty of flowers and wildlife to be seen. Including cherry blossoms, calla lilies, and California native golden poppies too.

Parks like this are a great escape for city folks as well as a nice destination for travelers too.