California is the Garden of Eden

Just back from visiting family in southern California. It is definitely the garden of Eden (so called by Woody Guthrie) this time of year, especially after a wet winter. There are plants from all over the world, flowers blooming regardless of season, and a wide variety of birds (including flocks of wild parrots). We celebrated the first day of spring at Descanso Gardens: a former private estate turned public garden known for its camellias. In the California native plant section of the garden we saw and heard a California thrasher singing like a mockingbird.

On Wednesday afternoon it was warm enough to sit in the sun in sandals, jeans and a T-shirt.

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwolf/
The original image has much better resolution than this reproduction.