Hello fellow nature lovers!
Gourmet Girls Denise and Lindsey here! Southern California is warming up and Mother Nature is hard at work. There are many places to see her handiwork and we wanted to share some of our favorites with you.
We had the opportunity this week to tour Lotusland in Santa Barbara and marveled at some of the many unique and rare plants that are part of their collection. Many plants were already in full bloom, although the namesake Lotus flowers won’t bloom until mid summer. None the less, there were many plants in bloom as you can see here.
In just a couple of weeks Mother Nature will be putting on her best show in the mountains of Southern California. We are expecting a fantastic show due to the wettest winter we have had in more than a decade. California poppies, lupine, tidy tips and sages will all be blooming their little hearts out, and the colorful results are amazing! Here is what the hills around Mount Figueroa looked like last year, and that was during the drought. For more info on camping at Mount Figueroa, here is the link: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/lpnf/recarea/?recid=11121
For those of you with orchid fever, the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is happening at Earl Warren Showgrounds this weekend, Friday the 17th through Sunday the 19th. Here are some pics from previous years.
Here are some of our other favorite places in Southern California to view spring wildflowers:
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
A.C.Postel Memorial Rose Garden
Happy flower hunting! Don’t forget to pack a picnic lunch. Fill your basket with delectable gourmet grub from The Gourmet Girls Go Camping Cookbook! Bon Appetit!