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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

California Colors!

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If you’ve never seen a Jacaranda tree in bloom, or smelled it’s purple sweetness ((Yes, in this case you CAN smell a color!)) you are missing something!

On my way to La Habra from the airport yesterday, the Jacaranda trees were in bloom EVERYWHERE and they are hard to miss.

Vibrant in color, commanding your attention – the blue sky is accented by this beautiful tree.

Talking to the locals, I found out quickly that they are a blessing and a curse ---

The blossoms are sticky and fall on cars, on pavements and side walks and driveways leaving a mess to be reckoned with.

But aren’t they lovely?

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Love this combo…the blue sky and the purple and green of that Jacaranda tree!

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Other things come in purple too – like agapanthus!

Growing up in San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area, these were a mainstay of landscaping ---and I love them.  They bring back so many memories of my childhood. 

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Bottle brush trees grow tall and I love their red brushy blooms!

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Purple and magenta!

California is in bloom and I am loving being part of it!

This morning I was up way too early, and out the door at 6am to get some steps in….

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White lilies tall and elegant!

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Is this a bougainvillea??  Put on your best magenta, baby!

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Uhoh..does it look like rain? Or are these clouds going to burn off?

Of course, my quilters eye smiles when I come across things like this:

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Octagons and square pavers!!

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Elongated Lozenge and Squares in a drive way – with piano key border! LOL!

Tonight I am being moved to a new location – who knows what I will find there.

I’m only in California until Friday, so I’m soaking up all the Southern California ambiance that I can!


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17 comments:

  1. Oh my...you are native Californian? I bet you do miss all the blossoming color of spring! I love the paving you found!! Love you!

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  2. I remember my first spring seeing the Jacaranda trees. I was so enamored by them. I just couldn't stop looking at them.

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  3. Love the bougainvillea! I see octagons though rather than hexies. :-)

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  4. My first exposure to Jacaranda trees were in Phoenix. They are awesome. I am partial to purple and green. Nothing quite like them. My son and his family live in Phoenix and they don't see the attraction either. I like the bougainvillea too, but my DIL hates them. Something about thorns?? Gotta take the bad with the beautiful!

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  5. Those jacaranda tress grow wonderfully in my native South Africa (although they actually come from Brazil), and the agapanthus, pelargoniums and dietes (not lilies!) that you show are all native to the Cape Town area. Lovely to see them all flourishing in California which has exactly the same climate.

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  6. Thanks for the California blooms. They are gorgeous. You lucky duck. I should have said you lucky hard working duck!
    I also pause at all the tile floor patterns except I am not surrounded by quilters that get it. Soak up some sun for me.
    47 degrees and windy off the cold water on Lake Michigan. Our neighbor has a bet with DH that we won't need to mow the grass until the 4th of July, really?

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  7. Went to High School in Redwood City CA & I do miss the flora, beach, eucalyptus trees. Thank you for sharing the beauty.

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  8. Anonymous9:39 PM EDT

    The pavers are octagons, not hexagons

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  9. I also love the Jacaranda trees, they are even better when planted in the house across the road, all the pleasure and none of the mess! Bougainvillea have 3 inch spikes on them but the Bambino variety is spike less (a small shrub). We have all those plants here in Australia and I love them. Autumn here though so a while to wait for the blooms :) Happy travels Bonnie.

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  10. Beautiful pictures!!! All inspire quilts - purples, greens and blues in octagons (I willingly accepted hexies cuz you do so many of them but with the comments, I went up and counted sides!), squares and lozenges??? Enjoy all the flowering beauty that is southern California!! Up here in eastern Washington my lilacs are blooming and perfuming my yard and I'm loving it!

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  11. Your photos trigger lots of memories for me: bougainvillea take me back to the island of Crete on our honeymoon, over 42 years ago, agapanthus to our home in New Zealand where we have both blue and white varieties, jacaranda trees blooming in Sydney, Australia where we saw them for the first time and a wonderful trip to California when our children were small. Enjoy your stay in the sunshine.

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  12. Beautiful colors and interesting shapes/designs! This post sounds like inspiration for your next quilt. Maybe the next mystery one?! :)

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  13. Thank you for the beautiful pictures! Jacaranda trees! They are gorgeous! I was just in SoCal and could not figure out what those lovely purple trees were called and now I know! Thank you. And thank you for sharing the Quilt Show video-it was fabulous. You have been such an encouragement to me even though I've never met you. I'm even trying hexies when I travel!

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  14. i like this blog. happy to blog walking

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  15. I too photographed a floor this past Saturday...the Catholic School has a wonderful 9 patch arrangement! Caused a traffic jam when I brought out my camera.

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  16. Looks like "home" to me; I'm in Santa Barbara. I just love the jacarandas, agapanthus, bougainvilla. Someone mentioned that jacarandas are from Brazil -- where people speak Portuguese. That's why you pronounce the "j" instead of it being silent, like so many Spanish names in the West. But we don't say "Uh-oh, maybe it will go away" to rain! This afternoon, we got an unexpected shower, hurray! Your show on The Quilt Life was great!

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  17. Anonymous4:05 AM EDT

    I arrived in CA 2 days after this post to visit my daughter and asked her what the purple blooming tree was. She said...something that starts with a J. Then I remembered your blog for today and got my answer! The blossoms were falling onto the very green grass and some sort of yellow blooming flower. My thought...what great colors for a quilt! Thanks for sharing your knowledge even in flowers and such! Lisa in AK

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